Oregon Day 2 and 3

Doctor's visits.

Day two involved staying at my uncle and aunt's house while they were kind enough to watch our kids while we saw the doctor.   Uncle Ken showed Kendall how to play tennis on their tennis court and then both my aunt and uncle decided to join Kendall on a morning run.  Even though they had not run in about two years.  How nice is that?  They were so accommodating. 

Day three- They took our kids to OMSI, a really great museum in Portland.  They spent a good four hours watching our kids that day and we really appreciate it. 

Kendall's doctor visits went well enough.  

Kendall was diagnosed in 2008 with a pituitary tumor.  Not cancerous... but that was the reason he couldn't lose weight.  Kendall is a very active guy and it was odd that he was gaining so much weight and not losing anything.  After running a bunch of blood tests they concluded that he had a tumor on his pituitary gland about 10 mm in size.   They sent him to a local endocronologist and they treated him with medicine that seemed to help.  When he went off of it his hormone levels went crazy again.   The pituitary gland controls about 7 important hormone functions.  They decided to send us to specialists in Portland to see about a surgery to have it removed.  We did that in January and they did an MRI and saw that it had shrunk.  They decided against surgery and concluded that he needed to go back on his medication. 

At this visit his tumor has not grown, nor has it shrunk, it is now about 4 mm in size.  Also they found the tumor has messed up about 3 important hormone functions instead of the original two.   Kendall will have to take additional medicine to balance it all out. 

It is frustrating, but we realize our blessings.  Kendall could feel terrible and in fact should feel terrible but he doesn't.   He feels awesome.  In fact he ran a half a marathon the week before we left.  He is in better shape than I am.

After the doctor's visits we went to the Pittock Mansion.  This mansion was built in 1910 and it had the most amazing bathrooms.  The bathrooms are still more high tech than most peoples bathrooms are today! 

Check out this shower... tons of body jets and even a temperature nozzle so you can test it with your foot before you get in.  It even had a shampoo nozzle.

Outside the mansion.

Here is the outside.

After the mansion we went to the Portland Rose Gardens.   And you are expecting a rose picture about now but no....

A HUGE dog was what we had to take a picture of!

Okay here is a rose picture.

And Max enjoying the roses.

Madeline had grouchy syndrome the rest of the evening because her cousin Scarlett wasn't with her.

So she may look grouchy in the rest of these pictures.   

Once again a nice stranger offered to take our picture.  So nice!  A nice bonus was that Madeline will smile for strangers.

All the light posts had roses growing up them. 

There is Max all kicked back and relaxed.

Now for the spooky part.   We ate at the famous Old Town Pizza.   It is supposed to be  haunted by a woman that was killed there in the 1800's.  We ate there in January when Kendall and I went and Madeline was SO excited to go there.   Up until we sat down that is.   All of the sudden she got scared.   I didn't help either.  I kept telling her that I smelled the ghosts perfume (that is how you know she is there).   It is a pretty spooky building.  Very ancient looking and I LOVE it. 

Max wasn't scared one bit.

This is what Madeline was like that night.