She broke it.

Today I had to take Liz to the Pediatrician because her poor bottom is causing so much pain and has been bleeding. We thought it may resolve, but after almost five days, the pain is worse. Given that, and the fact that I couldn't see anything that was causing it, we had to go in. Boo! We have actually not been to the Pediatrician's office in....wait for it..... two and a half weeks! Yahoo. We've had her other appointments with different specialists and the Ped. has called me at least twice a week to talk about Liz, but as for going in, it has been a million years. At least that's what two and a half weeks feels like at a time when we were going in at least twice a week for months and months.
When Liz's wonderful Dr. Lee saw her, she squealed and pinched Liz's cheeks because she was so delighted to see Liz's weight gain. Dr. Lee literally said "Come with me, I want to show you off to the office and other docs; we have to show off what we did!"
It is fitting to use the word 'we'- this has been a team effort and Dr. Lee has been great at steering our ship the last few months (we love the other doc in the group Liz was seeing primarily, but in the past few months, Dr. Lee has come on board to take over Liz's case and has been a blessing for us! Those who know Dr. Lee know that she can be abrupt and a little short, but my goodness, she is super, super smart and actually quite lovable and cuddly....even with hugs for me. She hates that Liz is sick and is determined to see her well.....and so yes, she gets to show off Lulu's pinchable cheeks.

After Dr. Lee pranced her project around the office, she examined a very compliant Liz and found that our poor baby has multiple fissures (A fissure is a tear in the anal canal. Aren't you feeling more educated on everything having to do with bellies and bums, the more you read this blog? : ) ). Ugh! This has become a chronic issue for Liz- a very painful and uncomfortable issue- and I feel bad that she has to have yet one more yucky thing to deal with. This time, her fissures are more inside and causing more pain and bleeding than her previous episodes. Poor baby girl.
Dr. Lee is going to speak to Liz's GI doc about doing a scope of her bum to see what she looks like inside, when he has her in the OR next week for her already-scheduled Endoscopy.

{For my records, I will blog tomorrow about what our plans are for the next two months in terms of Liz's care and testing.}

Don't you just love eyes that smile?!
She was cracking up as she gave a hip-shake and a thumbs-down to a bleeding, painful bum.
In our family, we often say "Shake it, don't break it!" as a term to pep someone up,
give encouragement or make someone smile.
We laughed that Liz shook "it" so much she really did break it! : )
We MUST keep a sense of humor through all of this. We just have to!

I can't not post about my Kate. This week she has had a lot of homework, and
three volleyball practices. Last night, she played ball until 8:45 and then had to come home and study.
We have been impressed with how she has shown maturity in getting her work done and giving
110% effort at practice. Tuesday, Coach called her out and used her as an example of how she "always tries so
hard and gives her all". Yay, Kate! Uncle Travis would be so proud.
This week, with the extra practice and the homework, she has had a taste of what next year will be like, as
Middle School requires more work and studying each night......
and that crazy, wonderful, dedicated, exhausted kid said she is ready for it! : )