Day 31

Blood drawn... another thing to check off of our list! What a relief! He had two tests done: an Oxidative Stress Panel, and an Ion Profile. Phil said that Ryan did great. He wasn't too upset and he handled it well. There were lots of vials that needed to be filled but he did a good job, and of course afterwards he asked for his cookie that was promised to him last night and this morning! He was fine with fasting and we were lucky to get him in to get it drawn before 8am. Phil brought him to Saint Francis Hospital. We had a lot of difficulty finding a lab that would draw it for us. When we called Dr. Bock's lab they said they didn't open until 9. We felt that would be a long wait for Ryan and after numerous frustrating phone calls we out found St. Francis would do it and their lab opened at 7am.

I'm so grateful that Phil took the morning off from work to bring him. It wasn't a great day for me to take off, but if I had to I would have. But truthfully, I'm not sure I could handle another session of him screaming "Please stop, I don't like this!" To top it off, he then had to go to his pediatrician for his annual check up. I had no idea he was going to have to get shots! The pediatrician gave him one of his tetnus boosters and his MMR vaccine. Instead of getting four vaccines at age 5, she likes to split it up and give him 2 this year and 2 next year. But again, Phil said that Ryan did really well. He cried for one of them because it hurt (probably the MMR) but the booster didn't really phase him. Phil had an extra lollipop with him and once he saw that he was content! Bribery works! (or it at least makes us parents feel better about making them go through something painful and scary- it's their consolation prize and rids our guilty conscience!)

DC