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March 20, 1999 We did a lot today and had a pretty fun day! We started the day by doing a little spring cleaning in the backyard - we raked some of the leaves that we didn't get in the fall. We're all ready now to apply our fertilizer / crab grass preventer which I'll do tomorrow, weather permitting. After cleaning up the back yard a little, my old friend Danny and his pregnant wife Jennifer came over to join us on a nice relaxing drive up the Great River Road up to Pere Marquet. Here's some pictures from the day:
And of course, what day of fun would be complete without a trip to Bobby's in Maryville for some ice cream for all! As you can see, we all had a fun day - thanks Danny and Jennifer for sharing it with us! March 16, 1999 Well, I just got the kids to bed. Des is out playing Bunco tonight with the girls. Bubby is doing fine except that he's a little spoiled. Des and I have begun to tell him no again (after a week of him pretty much getting whatever he wanted) and he doesn't like it. But he's still such a softy that if you raise your voice with him, he usually just starts crying and then wants you to hug and hold him. What a beautiful day here in St. Louis. Too bad the weather's supposed to turn this weekend. I actually was a little productive this weekend and rerouted the water pipes in the basement and took out the old water softener that we haven't used (it's been in bypass mode) for a long time. Here's a picture of the plumbing job:  It sure is going to be cool having all of the Lintz's together this summer. It's hard to imagine that it's been so long since we've all been together. More tomorrow... Randy March 15, 1999 To continue from March 11. Once we got to Cardinal Glennon, they immediately took us to our room (room 312) where Bubby fell asleep. The doctors there said again that the CT scans didn't show them anything to be alarmed about but that they wanted to do another scan in the morning as they didn't get a particular image that they wanted (one showing between two of the brain membranes). Bubby didn't sleep real well in the hospital as the nurses were in every 2 hours to check his vital signs (which he slep through OK) and to check his pupil dialation (which he absolutely hated unless they let him play with the flashlights first). We found out quickly that if we let Bubby pretend he was looking at his kitty kat's eyes with the flashlight, he wouldn't mind if the nurse looked at his. Anyway, on Sunday, March 7, they did another CT scan pretty early (about 9 I believe) but because a radiologist was not in and because of a lack of communication, we didn't hear anything until much later. The one doctor that had been with us all night told us before the radiologist read the scan that there was an area that she was "suspicious" about. She also told us not to worry and that by no means was she an expert at reading CT scans. It turns out that she was right though and the radiologist confirmed that there was "just a sliver" of blood between the two membranes. They said that this probably happened on impact but because the CT scan at Anderson didn't show this, the doctors told us that they wanted to keep him through Sunday night so that another CT scan could be performed Monday morning to ensure that the bleeding had stopped and that the area of blood was not growing. So on Monday, March 8, at about 7:45 a.m., they did CT scan number three on little Bubby. This time, the neurosurgeon whom we'd met on Sunday, was there reading the scan as it was being done and told me that the spot had actually gotten smaller!! As you can imagine, we were sooo happy. Especially because beginning about Sunday afternoon, Bubby started to liven up a little and by the time Grandpa Larry and Kelle came to visit on Sunday evening, Bubby was nearly back to his usual self and was especially having fun with the helium balloons that the McNamara's had given to Des to bring to Bubby. So, at about 2:45 p.m. on Monday, March 8, we were released from the hospital. The doctor's didn't give us any instructions or warn us to do or not do anything except fix the whole in the staircase where Bubby fell. Tuesday, March 9, was a great day. Bubby was running around and acting like he usually does. If it weren't for his ear jutting out a bit, you wouldn't have been able to tell that anything at all had happened to him. Wednesday, March 10, however was a different story. Bubby didn't get up Wednesday until about 9:30 a.m. which is very unusual for him. Des said that when he got up, he was acting OK but that during his breakfast, which he ate in his high chair, he was a little groggy. After eating his breakfast, Des went to rock him in the recliner because he was acting a little unusual. In the recliner Bubby threw up most of his breakfast. Des took him to the kitchen and while taking off his clothes, noticed that he could barely hold his head up (his neck seemed a little limp). Des changed his clothes and diaper, during which Bubby threw-up again. By now, Des was pretty paniced and called Kelle to come over and Diane to ask if she could watch Miranda. Diane watched Randa as Kelle and Des took Bubby to his pediatrician, Dr. Malik, about 3 miles from the house in Maryville. He looked at Jordan and recommended that they take him back to Cardinal Glennon. En route, they tried paging me from Kelle's van but I didn't know the page was coming from Kelle and kept instead trying to call Des at home and at her cell phone. I received a voice mail from Kelle (that scared the crap out of me all over again) and immediately took of for the hospital. Upon arriving, Bubby was awake and attentive but appeared to have lost his balance a little and was under and overcompensating when he tried to move his head. I got there just in time for his IV which, as you can imagine, he absolutely hated. He cried, screamed, and squirmed to the best of his ability, and to his credit, it took two nurses, Des, Kelle, and myself to hold him steady enough for another nurse to give him the IV. They gave him the kind where he sets his whole lower arm onto a small padded board. They taped it extensively and also placed a plastic guard over the actual needle to ensure that Bubby wouldn't pull at it, which he never did. So, after the fourth CT scan in five days which came back nearly identical to the third one on Monday, and several neck X-Rays (the compression and extension kind) to ensure that no neck vertebrae or ligaments were damaged, none of the doctors really had much to say other than to reenforce what they'd told us when we left on Monday, "that abnormal is normal in head injuries." The doctors told us that his sleep, appetite, and other routines would be a little off as appeared to be the case with his equilibrium. So, after talking with the ER doctors, a neurologist, the head neurologist, and Bubby's pediatrician, we decided that he didn't need a neck brace (as one neurologist first recommended) and that the best thing we could do was to take Bubby home and let him sleep it off. After arriving home, we laid him in front of the TV where he stayed (except for periods of rocking him in the recliner) until he went to sleep that night. The next day, Des took Bubby to his pediatrician as we were instructed on Wednesday, and Bubby was better. He was still a little wobbly but could sit up and hold his head up and walk around much better. On Friday, he was back to normal and as of today, Monday, March 15, he's totally back to normal. Thank God!! Anyway, I've set up a page with pictures and more details of the little guy's accident. And Oh, how could I forget, we bought a minivan over the weekend. I've also set up a page with pictures and details of the purchase. Randy March 11, 1999 By now, I'm sure you've all heard about Bubby's accident. What a frightening experience this has been for Des, Cody, and I (Miranda never really comprehended how serious this was) - I can only imagine what it's been like for little Bubby. Des and I both are guilt ridden with the whole thing as we know this could have easily been avoided if not for mainly my stupidity. In any case, he seems to be doing better today. For the record, he fell from the steps at about 7:30 Saturday night. I picked him up immediately after he hit the floor. He had a dazed and obviously painful look on his face (he didn't look me in the eyes at all) and it was obvious that he had knocked his wind out. I rushed him upstairs where Des began to freak out and we all jumped in the car to rush him to the hospital (Des didn't even stop to put her shoes on - Miranda was in a T-Shirt and underwear, Cody with no shoes on either). The trip was already panic and fear-ridden when we felt a soft spot on his head (which we've since been told was probably where the fracture was and was soft due to the swelling of the tissue). At Anderson Hospital in Maryville, he became very sleepy except when they performed some X-Rays and a CT Scan. The doctors there informed us that he had indeed fractured his skull and reassured us that there did not appear to be any bleeding or swelling of the brain itself. A doctor from Jordan's pediatrician, Dr. Malik, office recommended that we take him to Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis for an overnight observation. To be continued.... March 6, 1999 I'm currently teaching Des how to maintain "Lintz Logs" all on her own so hopefully you'll see some soon written by her. She's indicated that she's interested in typing things in here during the day. Randy March 5, 1999 I took today off as I had three days of carryover vacation from '98. I ended up working about half of the day from home. Monsanto does an excellent job of outfitting us with great laptops and has excellent remote support. I can access anything from home that I can at the office - only a lot slower. Things have been pretty busy as we're getting ready to bring most of the U.S. Seed Companies (Asgrow, Hartz, Dekalb) live on SAP. Anyway, Des is at a friends party this evening - one of those parties where the intent is for you to buy something. I'm not sure what though. She drove all the way to Festus, MO to see her old buddy, Michelle. So, the kids are in bed and here I sit goofing around. I will spend just about all of tomorrow (7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.) in a "Cub Scout Leader Basic Training Course." I'm currently trying to think of what our next event will be. Any suggestions are eagerly welcomed. I think our next trip will be to the St. Louis Science Center where I'm thinking we'll check out the OmniMax show. I've never been to one of those and I bet the kids would like it. They currently have the Great Barrier Reef or Mt. Everest. I'm currently thinking the kids would enjoy the former better. Well, that's enough for tonight. Randy March 1, 1999 Well, all the kids appear to be getting over their colds and flu and whatever else they had. Thank goodness Des or I never really got that sick. The two little ones (yes, Miranda included) hate to take their medicine. With Jordan, it's nearly impossible. Cody was off school today so everyone but Dad was outside playing around and enjoying the beautiful day we had in St. Louis. Got word from Aunt Michelle today that the baseball tickets have been purchased!! Yahooooo!! Can't believe that spring is almost here. We have pretty big plans for our landscaping this year - carryover of a lot of things we started last year but never finished. We plan (hope?) to finish the brick patio in the back yard and re-brick the side trees and front. At least I don't have to worry about powerwashing and staining the fence. The cedar finish we applied on the exterior of the fence is holding up well and looks as good today as the days I applied it. I need to teach Des how to edit this HTML file so that she can begin to record things here. Again, the intention is share with our spreadout family the happenings of our little Lintz Land and also to capture for our children a log of their childhood for them to have in the future. Good night... Randy February 25, 1999 Well, here goes. I'm still working on the new design to Lintz Land. Des teases me by saying that no one but I will really visit this site often. My reply is always, that's OK as it's something fun to do at night when the kids go to bed and it's something else to learn. I told Des that I'll print this log along with the pictures of the day and begin to put them in a binder. I'm hoping that when the kids get older they'll appreciate and enjoy a multimedia record of their youths. Anyway, I gotta get back to the drawing board on the rest of Lintz Land. Randy |
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