Lumpdate

First off, I should tell you that Miss Alicia Grace Fuller is walking. Sort of. Okay, she's taking steps of her own volition. Today is Wednesday. On Monday Alicia took a step toward me. Tuesday she took as many as ten steps at a time (I kept backing up). Tonight she tried a bunch of times. I think Alicia's even more excited about it than I am. She laughs so hard that it gets harder and harder for her to stand up. Yay Alicia!

She is currently 15 months and 18 months. She weighs 19lbs 10oz. She is 30 3/4 inches long.

This morning Miss Alicia and I went to see Dr. Sidman ENT. She is now scheduled to get tubes and a biopsy on August 31. This guy is busy.

So, a biopsy. We saw the pediatrician last week for a well child visit. He really didn't think we needed to do a biopsy. He said that the lumps would probably go away. Later he was feeling one of them saying oh, this kind doesn't go away. He thought Alicia's lumps were a dime a dozen, no big deal.

Dr. Sidman didn't think too much of our pediatrician today. He really very much disagreed with him about the need for a biopsy. He also didn't think I should have bothered seeing that nasty dermatologist and wasn't happy with the pediatrician for having sent me in that direction. Oh well.

Dr. Sidman and Dr. Maynard (pulmonologist) both think that the possibility of Alicia's lumps being connected to a larger issue (syndrome) needs to be ruled out. They both think that Alicia's lumps aren't the norm. Both agree that it's very possible that they'll go away on their own, but if they are something else, then they want to know. It isn't that one doctor is wrong and two others are right. There are just two very different approaches to medicine going on here. I only tend to demonize doctors who are just plain mean. Medicine is more vague a science than most would like to think and I don't fault any of these doctors for giving me different ideas about what to do. It is quite the thing to get used to, though, good doctors having different opinions. It shouldn't be. What's wrong with me?

So anyway. It is still a real possibility that these lumps really will be no big deal and even disappear on their own some day. It's also a possibility that they will keep growing or just stay what they are. It would then be a question of whether or not to remove them for cosmetic reasons. Hopefully, a biopsy will take the guesswork out of this.

I always tell you how I feel about all of this. I feel pretty good. Well, let's say fine. I'm not sure if most parents get used to getting bad news. But after it sits around for awhile, which it tends to do, you just get used to it. I remember Josh and I both feeling like we had talked about the possibility of Alicia needing heart surgery for so long that we were just ready for it when it was needed--at 16 days of age. What!? Okay, maybe it was just all the prayer that made us feel ready for it. But that's how this is for me now. I'm used to this issue now. And I'm very convinced that it's not going to significantly affect her life. I might have a different idea of significant than you do, but there it is. All that said, I've eaten a lot of chocolate today, and that tells me something too.

As for Toby, while writing this post, Toby screamed at me from upstairs in the bathroom. I went up. "Jerry poked a gun at me!" Imagination is overrated. Goodness. I said, "Did you tell him not to poke a gun at you?" He did that. I closed the door behind me and left.

Alicia climbs absolutely everything.

Then she gets out of trouble by being cute.

One of the lumps.