It's not MY fault!

Yesterday we drove down to Bruiser's special Hemo doc for the second time. We met a special dentist, physical therapist, social worker, geneticist and of course the normal two nurses and doctors. I like that along with Dr. Kerlin, we also have a specific nurse we work with each time, Charmaine. She is really sweet. We also met the other nurse, Claudia, for the times that Charmaine is on vacation.

Bruiser is up to almost 15lbs and 25". What a big man! He's in perfect condition and we got his blood drawn again bc often times infants' percentage levels go up a little bit. The husband said he did pretty well with getting his blood drawn and his immunizations. Monk mysteriously needed taken out of the room each time Bruiser was poked. Mysteriously...

ALTHOUGH, I would have had to have Monk removed anyway, as he got super protective. He heard when Bruiser started crying for the bloodwork and got really upset. "Coley's cryin!! Coley's crying!! I go to Coley!" He didn't calm down until Bruiser came back out happy as can be. When Dr. Kerlin came in for the examination Monk goes, "Don't TOUCH him!" Maybe he was thinking about the last time he had to go to the dr for glass in his foot. I'm glad he's looking out for his baby brother anyway. He felt better because Dr. Kerlin held and cuddled Bruiser saying they were friends, then pulled a silver dollar from Monk's ear. This man is an AWESOME. We're fortunate to have a great doctor.

Dr. Kerlin looked at Bruiser's shoulder and the new mark that's creeping up the back of his neck and has decided that they are NOT bruises or bleeds of any kind and are NOT hemophilia related. That means it's not my fault my sweet little baby is all marked up! What a relief! Now I don't feel bad every time I look at his back. He says he believes they are called Mongolian Spots, which is runs in 90% of Native AMericans but less than 10% of Caucasions, so he obviously gets it from Daddy's side. Ninety-five percent of Mongolian Spots go away by puberty. We just need to go to a dermatologist to confirm.

The hardest part about these visits is sitting in the waiting room. Not that it's a long wait, but because the Hematology ward shares with the Oncology ward. Dr. Kerlin does both. So I see these sweet little children who are going through chemo and I can't imagine watching my child suffer. One little girl got to ring the special Remission Bell since her cancer is in remission for now! Her family was taking pictures and the doctors gave her a gift and I got so teary eyed watching her. The moms in the waiting room all know each other and they asked the girl's mom what they would do now and the mom looked like a weight had just dropped off her shoulders. "Nothing for now! We'll test every now and then!" Then I saw a young couple carrying their tiny tiny little boy who had just received chemo and my heart broke all over again. I'm grateful it's just Hemophilia. My baby just bruises and I can deal with that.

My family is so blessed and I'm so grateful for my boys!