No pants...

Yesterday when JT and I got home I needed to make dinner. I let JT watch a video while I went to make some ravioli, rice and chili (not together...two separate meals). Normally I can hear JT bounce around when he watches videos but he was kind of quiet so I snuck upstairs to see what he was doing and this is what I saw:

He was sitting there looking at his dinosaur book without any pants. He had taken off his pants and was just lounging in his diaper. Good thing Aya wasn't home because I just let JT go pants-less the rest of the night.

Garbage Truck...

JT loves the garbage truck. About a month ago my mom got JT this trash truck:

He loves the truck and it is amazing that he remembers every morning to take it grandpa and grandma's and then he remembers to take it home. One day he left it at Grandma's and I figured he just forgot but on the way home he remembered and wanted me to drive back. I tried to distract him into forgetting but it didn't work so we had to drive back and get his truck.

So look at JT's truck again. It is like the commercial garbage truck that picks up the bins. Before JT got his trash truck he used to imitate the trash truck lifting up the bin and dumping the bin into the back of the truck.

Here it is on video:

Nugget...

For quite some time now we have been empting JT's crap from his diaper into the toilet. If not we would have to take the trash out every day and I am just too cheap to pay for that many trashbags. Plus, it is two fligths of stairs to the garage trash can.

Aya had dumped JT's diaper contents into the toilet and a few hours later I went to take a leak and this is what I saw:

Notice that little brown nugget on the bowl? Yup, that is crap. Apparently Aya did not put all the crap in the bowl but then neglected to clean up after herself.

Usually I would just clean it and mention it to Aya but then she would think I am joking or lying...thus this time I took picture for 'proof'. Further evidence that I already have to take care of two people...JT and Aya!

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It appears that the surgeons feel like a second surgery would be riskier than doing nothing....thus it looks like the decision will be to do nothing. The doctors plan to monitor Aya's mom (herein called Yoko) in ICU for another 10-14 days. If the vasospasms stop and if Yoko can stand the pressure/pain then she will be moved out of ICU.

Hopefully by then we will know where she stands in terms of recovery, paralysis and what kind of life she can expect to to have for hopefully the next 20-30 years.

Once again it will be a case of no news is good news. Aya and her brother are currently tag teaming on watching their mom. Aya is up next week so hopefully we can settle in a routine on when Aya will be home and when she won't be home.

Even more birthday...The devil...

Aya thinks that with my gote I look like the devil. I don't see it. I know some of you are going to take the cheap joke and draw horns on me, point out the fact that I am wearing red or just say I am evil. All those aren't very original.

In any case, when I asked Aya what she wanted for her bday she just wanted me to shave. I kind of hemmed and hawed about it because I had only been growing it for just over a month and Aya told me I could grow it for 6 months. Aya never thought it would grow as long as it did in a month and didn't want to see what 6 months growth would be.

I also did my best not to trim it, shape it or do any kind of grooming. I just wanted it to grow buck wild.

I suppose out of the goodness of my heart, I shaved it for Aya's birthday. I figure if I can't think of anything for Aya's birthday I can just grow the gote at the start of every year and shave it off for a present!

OH!! With Aya's mom in the hospital and my days getting all jumbled together I keep forgetting stories and what I want to write.

So one night Aya, her brother and I go out to a local mexican restaurant near the hospital. We were already tired but we all decided to get some drinks. Aya's brother ordered first...and then got carded. Aya ordered next...nothing. I ordered and I got carded. Hence that means the waiter thought Aya was the oldest of the group! hahahhahahaha. I had left my wallet in the car and I had to go and get it to show him my age before he would bring me my drink!! hahahahhaha!! Nothing like feeling young on your birthday by NOT getting carded!! Classic!

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No news about Aya's mom. She was having more beizo (sp) spasms today. It was not showing up on the doppler test they run but when they did an angiogram test the spasms were there and they did not want to do the stent operation if Aya's mom was having the spasms. That latest test do show another anuerysm is there but they think the stent procedure will work.

That operation won't be tomorrow...could be Wednesday at the earliest but they want to run more tests so I am thinking the second procedure won't happen until later in the week or weekend.

They did remove the 'valve' that was releasing cranial fluid, so now more pressure is building up but hopefully Aya's mom processes it normally so that is good news. Unfortunately as pressure builds so does the pain so she is back on morphine so that means she is not awake to talk or move.

Nothing new to report...

This entry was inspired by Saori. She has made a comment, "Please please let us know if we could do anything to help." Very nice thought....a lot of friends and family have made the same comments via phone, email or my blog.

Honestly, there isn't anything anyone can do for Aya's family at the moment. For our family (Aya, JT and I) my parents are helping out by watching JT whenever I end up going to the hospital to support Aya.

For the most part, we meet with the surgeon or various doctors. We see the speech and physical therapist and we talk to the nurses. Outside that we spend a lot of time in ICU just waiting for Aya's mom to open her eyes...check her progress...and see if she is going to speak or move. Basically just looking for some sort of sign of improvement.

I can understand why people call and want to the know the status but at times it is very annoying and stressful For each person that calls Aya, she has to basically tell them the story and that makes it hard for her because she has to relive it. Maybe because it is Aya's mom, more people call Aya than her brother. Maybe because Aya lives in So. Cal and her brother is in Seattle people call Aya. I don't know. All I know is that we can't take calls in ICU...we have really poor cell phone reception in the hosptial itself. People have no problems calling EVERY day for an update even though we say we won't know anything for the next week!

Yes I know people are concerned and want to see her, but the simple fact is ICU is limited to 2 people at a time. She is in no condition to see visitors. My mother inlaw is aware mentally so we don't want people coming and crying or being sad when this is a time to be positive and strong.

Tomorrow (Monday) we find out if Aya's mom will have another surgery. Odds are high she will but we don't know which procedure they will opt for. Thus, we have no news, we don't know what the outcome will be...but whichever it is there will be at least a 1-2 day recovery so again we will have no news. Hopefully people will stop calling...while it is very nice people have Aya's mom in their thoughts and prayers there is just no need to call everyday.

More Birthday...

Okay, lets start the weekend off on a lighter note. Last Thursday was Aya's birthday and we went to Spago's for dinner.

Honestly, I did not even know Spago's was still open. Back in the day, I knew it used to be in Hollywood but it was also above my pay grade. Recently I noticed that Spago's was still open and that it was just a few doors down from my favorite steak house.

Aya gets the Zagat guide every year and I have never given it much thought. This year I started thumbing thru it and making little notes on places where Aya and I have gone. Luckily, Aya and I have been able to go to over 100 restaurants listed in Zagats guide.

With that being said, I am not sure about Spago's. It was more crowded than I thought for a Thursday so people like going. My food was great. Aya and I shared a 40 oz Cote de Boeuf. Basically a rib eye steak, but not like any other rib eye...this was some good meat. So why am I not sure about Spago's? As good as it was, I felt it wasn't any better than other comparable restaurants and the kicker is that Spago's is expensive even by LA standards. The bill at Spago's was almost twice as much as I normally pay for dinners with just me and Aya.

Wolfgang Puck did come over and say hello and Aya got a nice birthday dessert. We also didn't sit in the main dining hall and were in a more private section so that was nice. I just don't know if it is worth paying that much. At least I can say I went once.

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In other good news, Aya's mom was able to speak more today. She responded well to her physical therapy and speech therapy. I mean she won't be chatting it up on the phone or doing cartwells by the weekend but it was very encouraging to see some improvement. She remains in ICU so still no visitors.

UPDATE:

More good news. Aya's mom was able to speak in sentences today. I am not sure how strong her voice projected or if it was a whisper but Aya was able to clearly understand her. Also, Aya's mom was able to move the fingers on her right hand as well so hopefully that is a sign of good things to come!

No news is now good news...

Aya and I are now back to work and things have been busy so there wasn't an update the past few days. Here is the latest.

Aya's mom had a small stroke during her recovery. That stroke is blocking the communication from her brain to the right side of her body. Thus, she had not moved her right arm or leg. However if the doctor/nurse prick her then her body responds so the doctor thinks that with rehab there is a chance that she will regain use of her right arm and right leg but no guarantees.

Right now we are just waiting until Monday when the doctor makes the call on whether to clip the aneurysm or put a stent in the artery. Until then no news is good news.

The doctor increased the blood pressure and no rupture so that is good. Aya's mom is more mentally aware now. Aya's mom still can not speak although she has said the year and her name to the doctor. She has not spoken to me, Aya or Su. She does squeeze Aya's hand in a yes/no type answer when Aya speaks to her.

So right now, we are just in a holding pattern until Monday and then we basically start at square one again...finding out what the surgery will be, waiting for the results of the surgery, waiting for recovery and then waiting to see the outcome of the surgery.

Update...

Today did not go as planned. We had hoped for more progress today but sadly we might have even had a set back. Late this afternoon one Aya's moms test came back with some blood in the brain.

It is possible that it is just left from the surgery but the surgeon thinks it might be a 1mm aneurysm near the site of the original clipped aneurysm. Sadly, the test are inconclusive just like the test before the surgery. The problem is that the aneurysm is right were the vein splits off into many other veins. Basically it is where were a bunch of 'freeways' interchanges are so the aneurysm is hard to detect because like the first one it was underneatch the vein so it is hard to see in the lab films.

In addition because the tear is so small it appears as a vein branch and not an aneurysm. In any case, we hope to find out more tomorrow. Aya's mom is slowly coming around...opened her eye...made eye contact and can non-verbally respond to questions . One eye is still closed due to swelling.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Bad news...Good news...

Friday afternoon Aya got a call from one of her mom's friends saying that her mom blacked out at the gym and was taken to the hospital. Our first thought was my mother inlaw over exerted herself at the gym but when Aya got to the hospital we found out her mother had an aneurysm and was going to be transferred to another hospital that can do the surgery.

"An aneurysm (or aneurism) is a localized, blood-filled dilation (balloon-like bulge) of a blood vessel caused by disease or weakening of the vessel wall. Aneurysms most commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain (the circle of Willis) and in the aorta (the main artery coming out of the heart), a so-called aortic aneurysm. The bulge in a blood vessel can burst and lead to death at any time. The larger an aneurysm becomes, the more likely it is to burst.

Currently there are two treatment options for brain aneurysms: surgical clipping or endovascular coiling. It consists of performing a craniotomy, exposing the aneurysm, and closing the base of the aneurysm with a clip. The surgical technique has been modified and improved over the years.

Surgical clipping remains the best method to permanently eliminate aneurysms. It consists of passing a catheter into the femoral artery in the groin, through the aorta, into the brain arteries, and finally into the aneurysm itself. Once the catheter is in the aneurysm, platinum coils are pushed into the aneurysm and released. These coils initiate a clotting or thrombotic reaction within the aneurysm that, if successful, will eliminate the aneurysm. In the case of broad-based aneurysms, a stent is passed first into the parent artery to serve as a scaffold for the coils ("stent-assisted coiling").

At this point it appears that the risks associated with surgical clipping and endovascular coiling, in terms of stroke or death from the procedure, are the same. The major problem associated with endovascular coiling, however, is the high recurrence rate and subsequent bleeding of the aneurysms."

Aya's mom had a 2mm aneurysm and was lucid and moving all her limbs...so we thought everything was okay. Most aneurysms are 5-7 mm and patients are usually unconscious so we were under the false impression that Aya's mom was not in critical condition. Unfortunately after we met the surgeon we became aware of how condition her condition really was and that 2mm or 7 mm she was already lucky to have just made it to the hospital. The next step was surviving the surgery.

Luckily the surgery went as planned on Saturday. The doctor opted for the craniotomy which ended up being a great call because the vessel wall was weak and bleeding and aneurysm was clipped.

Aya's mom is still recoving and will be in the ICU for about 8 more days. She can understand and respond to commands. She can also move her limbs. She is still very groggy from the surgery so she hasn't spoken or opened her eyes yet but we are hoping tomorrow will be the day.

The good news is she survived making it to the hospital and she survived the surgery. According to the doctor 33% of the patients walk out as good as new. We are hoping Aya's mom is part of the 33%....keep your fingers crossed.

Happy Birthday...

Happy 33rd Birthday to Aya!! I can't believe I have known Aya for over 1/3 of her life now. I met Aya just after she turned 21 years old!

What better way to celebrate Aya's birthday than with a story.

I know this happens to everyone where your underwear rides up into your butt. Sure when you are in public you might not pick at your butt to pull your underwear down but at home that is a different story.

The other day my underwear was all messed up...partly because it was old and partly because JT likes to pull my pants down. Thus, I pulled my underwear up super high and it started to bug me so I pulled it out of my butt crack. I suppose since my hand was near my butt I also started scratching my butt.

Aya and I were headed to bed and she was in front me so she did not notice I was scratching my butt. We got into bed and I pulled the sheets up a little for the two of us but I was sure to put my hand on her side of the sheets.

Aya, "Do you smell that?"
Miles, "Smell what?"
Aya, "I think our sheets smell."
Miles, "Really, I don't smell anything. Lemmie see"

Aya is sniffing around.
I then put my smelly butt hand her side of sheets again.

Miles, "Nope, I don't smell anything."
Aya is still sniffing, "Yeah, it smells".

Miles "Does it smell like this?"

I put my hand on Aya's nose.

Aya, "Yeah thats the smell...Eeeeww...WAIT...what is that?!"
Miles, "HAHAHAHHAHAHHA...that is my butt!!"


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Hop-Hop

This was JT's first encounter with 'shooting' water. JT was a little confused at first...but ended up catching on pretty quick and had a great time getting soaking wet!

Kidspace...

Since Aya was out of town all of last week, Aya wanted to do something for JT over the 3 day weekend. We debated on going to Disneyland or Legoland but at the last minute we opted for something more age appropriate....Kidspace in Pasadena.

We had never been but we heard it was a childs park/museum. It started off well as there was a 1/2 marathon at the park and one of the sponsor's had a helicopter. JT loves trucks and helicopters.

Kidspace was nice. It was like an 'exclusive' park. Tickets were $8 bucks a person and it is good for kids ages 2-5. It was also pretty "anglo".

Right when we got into the park JT just played with the blocks. For a minute I thought we would never see any part of the park because JT was not interested in anything but the blocks.

We lured JT into the next exhibit hall by saying there was a truck and then the jeep became his new favorite! He would not get out and he kept telling other kids to get off his jeep.

Mine!!


We went to the other side and there were water pistols that shot water against drums. You could also shoot water over the drums to the other side...by the time I realized that was possible JT soaked some other kid...haha...sucker!

Kidspace had exhibits to show erosion....but JT just played with the water.

JT least favorite was the tricycle track. Kidspace makes every kid wear a helmet and shoes. JT hated wearing the helmet. I think the helmet is retarded but my mom told me that we should get one for JT because all kids need a helmet. Gay!

JT in a cave out back with a bat:

Finally JT out in the garden:

CFA...

A chip off the old block. JT was reading Aya's Dictionary of Finance and Investment terms.

This is about as mushy as I get for Valentine's Day:

What can Brown do for you...

I suppose like most boys JT loves trucks. He loves seeing the bus, trash trucks, cement mixers, diggers, dump trucks and the UPS truck. JT can not say UPS but he can say, "BROWN".

I use my parents address to ship anything I buy and between my sister and I, the UPS guys comes at least a few times a week. Today the UPS guy brought JT a UPS truck!


He forgot it at Grandma's so we went back to get it and he hasn't let go of it all night long.

Destructo...

It isn't so bad being last in JT's polls. I guess since he likes me the least, when no one else is around he listen to me the best. JT was on his best behavior tonight. We read, played, ate dinner, took a bath and read stories without any complaints or whining. Well, he whined once after he took a humongous crap and wanted to keep playing before changing it.

JT's loves if you build a tower or if he builds a tower...

...because he can't resist knocking it down!

JT says, "OH-NO!! All gone!"