Ode To The Color Blue

Blue, I really don't like you.
You are cold.
You are cruel.
You are scary.
Blue, I really don't like you.


Okay...the poet...I'm not! I thought about dragging that little ditty out for a long time but decided I'd run out of energy before I got to the point. So, there it is. Short and sweet.

I guess the color blue is okay when it's in the sky...where I can't ever touch it. It is pretty up there. I don't like it when I see it on my kids. Brandy turned blue and very, very bad things happened. It was lack of oxygen...a severe lack of oxygen that eventually led to death.

Ryan's lips turned blue yesterday. He and I ran a few quick errands around lunch time. Upon our return I noticed his lips looked a little blue. I cautiously dismissed it while keeping a very close eye on him at the same time because he wasn't acting any differently. The blue wouldn't go away, I went through the system of checks: did he eat something blue, was he choking, did he look okay otherwise, was he cold, etc. I started with the cold. He felt a little cool. I took his temp. It was low. I gave him a warm bath, dressed him in thick feety pajamas, and snuggled up in a blanket with him. The blue remained. Ugh. Wade asked me to go ahead and call the doctor. I did. I explained the situation. They said bring him in, and could I leave now?

We didn't get to see our regular doctor. The doctor we saw was very thorough, though. Ryan had a chest x-ray and a full exam. Dr R more or less shrugged and said he didn't know for sure what was going on, but it could be a seizure or an episode of breath holding. Okay...scary. He said we should keep an eye on him and bring him back to see his regular doctor the next day. (We had a previously scheduled appointment.)

Fast forward to today:
Ryan saw his regular doctor. He, too, did a thorough exam including a blood draw to test for anemia and thyroid function. After much discussion he decided the most likely cause of Ryan's blue lips was that he did indeed get too cold. I asked the Dr. if he could really be that sensitive to temperatures. He said absolutely. Ryan doesn't have enough body fat to regulate is temperature as well as you or I and some other kids. He suggested we dress him more warmly and for him to wear a hat (nice try doc...only if it can be fastened on in several places :) ) Now before you think I'm a horrible mom. (Trust me...I've already gone down the "what have I done to my kid" road.) He was dressed in long sleeves, long pants, socks and shoes. The house was at about 70 degrees, which is cooler than we keep it during the summer but not unreasonably cool. Somehow between the damp weather, cool temperatures, and who knows what other factors Ryan got too cold yesterday.

The regularly scheduled appointment:
SoonerStart came out on Tuesday. He had his usual visit as well as a hearing screen. They never could get a good read on his hearing acuity however when they did a tympanometry test it revealed that his tympanic membranes had no movement. This is an indication of fluid in the ears. They recommended we take him to the doctor and possibly discuss tubes. Dr. S looked at both ears and on a scale of 1-4 with one being minor concern and 4 being great concern Ryan's right ear was a 1 and his left ear was a 3. We return to the doctor to check on this in 4 weeks. Dr. S said that if it is just a sometimes thing and keeps fluctuating then there is no need to get real worried, but if it is a consistent problem it probably needs to be addressed. In four weeks if the fluid is still causing problems he will refer us to an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor. Dr. S also asked if we would like to go back to the Hough Ear Institute for another evaluation. I told him that if he felt it was necessary that I didn't have any problems with it. He said we might consider that, but we can wait awhile.