I've been sitting here, trying to figure out what to write..but I can't come up with anything meaningful.
It seems like I'm always just updating on the health of my kids. My mom told me the other day that she thought going to endless doctor appointments would get old. I don't know, it's been my life for the last 15 years, it's all I know, it's just life.
But it makes me think maybe it gets old reading about it.
The only thing I'll say right now is, Matthew's surgery went well, his pressure is, once again, down, and now we just wait again. Do I think it will work this time? Not really. It hasn't in the past. The doctor said she didn't blame me for being pessimistic about it, she said given his history, it's natural for me to be pessimistic. I hate feeling that way. I wish I could just say, "oh yeah, this will be it..it will be great". I've said that in the past, only to be let down, time and again. Once bitten, twice shy, and all that.
Fall has come to Ohio. It is so beautiful. I find myself wondering if the native Ohioans (is that what they're called?) realize how lucky they are. There are many places in this country that do not look like this in the fall. I've lived in plenty of those places. Anyway, I just love it. Of course, the leaves are falling faster than we can keep them raked up, and that's not too fun, but it can't all be roses, now can it?
Tomorrow, Dillon turns 13!! How can this be?? Two teenagers in the house! Weren't they just born? They are growing way too fast for me. I wish time could just slow down a wee bit. I know I'll blink and they'll be gone, and yet, I am so thankful to have all this time with them. I know too many people who have lost their children, so I'm not taking a minute for granted.
Well lookie there, I guess I did have something to say.
Showing posts with label healthwise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthwise. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
What a week!
For the last two weeks, Matt has been TDY. Last week he was in Rhode Island, this week he was in San Antonio. I so wish we could have made the San Antonio trip with him, but alas, we were all home while he was enjoying our old family and friends! Maybe next time!
Last week was pretty uneventful, in fact, I can't really remember what we did.
Oh yes, we started school! It went really well, for a first week. Still working out some issues, but this happens every year. I think we're off to a great start!
This week though, it was another story!
We had appointments all week long. Good to get them all out of the way at once though, I always say!
Matthew is having surgery on Tuesday, so Monday he had his pre-op appointment. All went well and he was cleared for surgery.
Tuesday, he went to the dentist and had no cavities. I was trying to remember, and I don't think he has ever had any cavities. Not bad for a 15 year old!
Wednesday was the exciting day!
It started early with a radio interview! Myself and two other moms were asked to be the guests on a radio show. Our half hour show was about mended little hearts and CHD in general. We were all nervous, but it was so great to get our stories out there. We only have 70 some families in our group, and with CHD affecting 1 in 100 children, we know that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Dillon is so funny, because he is convinced this will make me famous! HAHA!!
I know it airs in October sometime, but I don't think I can listen to it. I'd pick apart everything I said!
From there we had to rush to the cardiologist for Zachy and Natalie's check ups. I didn't really think Natalie would cooperate, since she hasn't ever since her RSV. She managed to make it through the EKG, but that was it. The doctor tried to echo her, but she wouldn't have it. She has a questionable pulmonary vein that we need to keep an eye on, but the doc feels comfortable just retrying in six months. At that point, if she doesn't cooperate, we'll have to do a sedated echo. The good news, regarding her, is her rhythm looks great! By now Zachy's was a mess, so things are looking promising as far as her not needing a pacemaker.
Zachy did great, and for the first time since being paced four years ago, has graduated to appointments once a year! Go Zachy!!
Thursday, Natalie was supposed to follow up with pulmonology, but she and Emily woke up with high fevers. Emily was vomiting as well. Poor girls, they were miserable. No pulmonology for Natalie!
Friday was spent relaxing and trying to get well!
Matt gets home late tonight, and I am so looking forward to having him here! I hate when he is away. We miss him so much. Emily woke up this morning and the first thing she said was, "today is the day we get Daddy! YAY!!"
This coming week will be much calmer, I hope!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Matthew's Surgery
I totally forgot to blog about Matthew's recent surgery. My dad has been galavantin around the world, and his recent comment on my status update reminded me that I should have updated him, and you.
In case you are new to my blog, Matthew is my eldest. He is 14. He was born with a congenital cataract which was removed at one month of age. Along with the cataract, his lens was removed. Keep in mind this was 14 years ago. His eye has some other issues and for reasons beyond our control, he went nearly blind in his right eye. By nearly blind I mean he can see shadows. I'm sure that, had he been born now, things would have turned out differently. We try not to think about that. We did the best we could. We saw an expert in the field and did all we could, 14 years ago.
Have I mentioned it was 14 years ago??
Anyway, due to the absence of a lens, he developed glaucoma in that eye.
Because he has almost zero vision in that eye, anything we do is just to keep him comfortable.
He has been fighting this for years now, and nothing we do seems to work.
The last time he saw the doctor, his pressure was an all time high, 48. Normal pressure is in the teens.
It was decided that we would try a laser surgery.
He has had this same exact surgery before. It brought his pressure down to the upper teens. A month later it was back to the 30s.
He uses 3 medications to try to keep the pressure down, but it obviously doesn't do too much.
The first time he had this surgery was pie.
This time was a different story.
The doctor told me Matthew would be out for the surgery, which we took to mean general anesthesia. Matthew was fine with that. This was surgery number 12 or 13 (I need to write them down so I have that info!!) and he is used to them gassing him to sleep, then starting the IV.
When we got to the pre-op holding area, they talked about starting an IV. Matthew was so nervous. We said we preferred he get the gas first. Then they explained that they would just be doing IV sedation this time around. No big deal, just the fear of the IV.
He did great and said it wasn't that bad. I was so glad they gave him lidocaine before doing it though.
They took him back, he remembers a bit, but not much.
It wasn't long and he was done.
By the time we got to the recovery room he was awake and loopy. It was hilarious, and we all laughed at him. How mean, huh? But, in our defense, he was so funny, and he laughed with us!
OK, so the next day, no pain. Surgery was on Tuesday and Friday we headed to Missouri to see my brother-in-law graduate grad school. Graduations was Saturday, and there was a tree outside that called way too hard to my boys to climb it.
Up they went. Matthew hung upside down, felt a "pop" and was in major pain. He said the pressure was terrible. We got home and he laid down and didn't want to move. We tried a cool compress, but the feeling of anything touching it was excruciating.
So here we are, middle of nowhere, Missouri, with no clue what to do. Oh, and that dad who was galavantin?? He's an ophthalmologist but was unreachable. Just our luck!
We gave him Tylenol throughout the weekend, and he was able to function. Oh, we also took it upon ourselves to increase his drops for pressure, because he said it was pressure pain. His eye also got very, very bloodshot after this. We knew it was supposed to get red, but it hadn't until that moment.
Monday finally came and we put a call into his doctor. Of course, we had to leave a message. The first call back said we needed to find an ophthalmologist and get him in asap.
Again, we were in the middle of nowhere!
As we started searching the phone book and trying to figure out what to do, his doctor called back.
We talked about everything and she told me what drops to increase to every other hour.
That did the trick and brought the pain down.
The white of his eye turned yellow and you could see every blood vessel, bright red.
He had pain until we got home and finally saw the doctor. A week after surgery.
She looked and said everything looked great. We have no idea what the "pop" could have been, or why the pain was suddenly so excruciating.
The big news is his pressure was down to 12.
This is great news, but I find it hard to get excited. The doctor says we will be cautiously optimistic. I just figure when we go back in a couple weeks, it will be creeping up again. I would LOVE to be surprised.
He continues to have pain off and on, which I don't understand. If it looks so good, why is it hurting him so much?
Also, something that is perplexing to me, that I didn't think about until after we left...Matthew has a thickened cornea, so they usually say the actual pressure is about 10 points lower. Does this mean his pressure is 0-2?? And is that bad? He keeps telling me his eye feels squishy. That freaks me out.
A danger of this surgery is doing too much of the laser and actually drying the eye up. I'm praying that isn't the case here!
So, time will tell. I think the pain is getting better every day. He continues to amaze me. My children are the strongest people I know. Matthew never, ever complains about all he has been through. I am so very, very proud of the man he is becoming.
In case you are new to my blog, Matthew is my eldest. He is 14. He was born with a congenital cataract which was removed at one month of age. Along with the cataract, his lens was removed. Keep in mind this was 14 years ago. His eye has some other issues and for reasons beyond our control, he went nearly blind in his right eye. By nearly blind I mean he can see shadows. I'm sure that, had he been born now, things would have turned out differently. We try not to think about that. We did the best we could. We saw an expert in the field and did all we could, 14 years ago.
Have I mentioned it was 14 years ago??
Anyway, due to the absence of a lens, he developed glaucoma in that eye.
Because he has almost zero vision in that eye, anything we do is just to keep him comfortable.
He has been fighting this for years now, and nothing we do seems to work.
The last time he saw the doctor, his pressure was an all time high, 48. Normal pressure is in the teens.
It was decided that we would try a laser surgery.
He has had this same exact surgery before. It brought his pressure down to the upper teens. A month later it was back to the 30s.
He uses 3 medications to try to keep the pressure down, but it obviously doesn't do too much.
The first time he had this surgery was pie.
This time was a different story.
The doctor told me Matthew would be out for the surgery, which we took to mean general anesthesia. Matthew was fine with that. This was surgery number 12 or 13 (I need to write them down so I have that info!!) and he is used to them gassing him to sleep, then starting the IV.
When we got to the pre-op holding area, they talked about starting an IV. Matthew was so nervous. We said we preferred he get the gas first. Then they explained that they would just be doing IV sedation this time around. No big deal, just the fear of the IV.
He did great and said it wasn't that bad. I was so glad they gave him lidocaine before doing it though.
They took him back, he remembers a bit, but not much.
It wasn't long and he was done.
By the time we got to the recovery room he was awake and loopy. It was hilarious, and we all laughed at him. How mean, huh? But, in our defense, he was so funny, and he laughed with us!
OK, so the next day, no pain. Surgery was on Tuesday and Friday we headed to Missouri to see my brother-in-law graduate grad school. Graduations was Saturday, and there was a tree outside that called way too hard to my boys to climb it.
Up they went. Matthew hung upside down, felt a "pop" and was in major pain. He said the pressure was terrible. We got home and he laid down and didn't want to move. We tried a cool compress, but the feeling of anything touching it was excruciating.
So here we are, middle of nowhere, Missouri, with no clue what to do. Oh, and that dad who was galavantin?? He's an ophthalmologist but was unreachable. Just our luck!
We gave him Tylenol throughout the weekend, and he was able to function. Oh, we also took it upon ourselves to increase his drops for pressure, because he said it was pressure pain. His eye also got very, very bloodshot after this. We knew it was supposed to get red, but it hadn't until that moment.
Monday finally came and we put a call into his doctor. Of course, we had to leave a message. The first call back said we needed to find an ophthalmologist and get him in asap.
Again, we were in the middle of nowhere!
As we started searching the phone book and trying to figure out what to do, his doctor called back.
We talked about everything and she told me what drops to increase to every other hour.
That did the trick and brought the pain down.
The white of his eye turned yellow and you could see every blood vessel, bright red.
He had pain until we got home and finally saw the doctor. A week after surgery.
She looked and said everything looked great. We have no idea what the "pop" could have been, or why the pain was suddenly so excruciating.
The big news is his pressure was down to 12.
This is great news, but I find it hard to get excited. The doctor says we will be cautiously optimistic. I just figure when we go back in a couple weeks, it will be creeping up again. I would LOVE to be surprised.
He continues to have pain off and on, which I don't understand. If it looks so good, why is it hurting him so much?
Also, something that is perplexing to me, that I didn't think about until after we left...Matthew has a thickened cornea, so they usually say the actual pressure is about 10 points lower. Does this mean his pressure is 0-2?? And is that bad? He keeps telling me his eye feels squishy. That freaks me out.
A danger of this surgery is doing too much of the laser and actually drying the eye up. I'm praying that isn't the case here!
So, time will tell. I think the pain is getting better every day. He continues to amaze me. My children are the strongest people I know. Matthew never, ever complains about all he has been through. I am so very, very proud of the man he is becoming.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Crazy Busy
The problem with waiting for a while in between posts is I never know where to start again.
We have been so crazy busy that I could make multiple entries, and maybe I will. Or not. We'll see how things go.
Last week we, and by we, I mean me, decided that we would have a week of no TV, no iTouch, no DS, etc.
We also downloaded the geocaching app on my phone last week. It also happened to be the week that the weather finally warmed up.
We spent last Sunday traipsing around finding caches. It was a lot of fun, and I think it will help us learn where things are here.
Throughout the week, we stopped at multiple caches.
It was also a great week for playing at the park. We spent a lot of time at the parks this week.
What we didn't do was a whole lot of school. Shame on us. It was just too nice to be inside. I'm thinking school is about to end. We are at stopping points for everything except math. And I'm the boss, we can stop math when I say. Hehe. Besides all that, geocaching is educational!
Today, we decided to add Letterboxing. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon walking around.
Our first letterboxes were a series of 4 that told a bunch of history of the town near us. It was cool, we went around the cemetery where many of the founding fathers of the town are buried. When we were done, we checked out the first buildings in the town. Very cool.
I have always thought I wanted to explore cemeteries. There are so many stories buried in cemeteries.
I changed my mind today.
The final letterbox was right beside one of the baby cemeteries there. I wandered. Matt told me not to, but I just couldn't help it.
So much heartache. I shed a few tears for all the lost babies. All the hurting parents. I cannot imagine. There was a stone that simply said, "Williams Twins". Another was for twin, one lived 2 days, the other 7. Can you imagine? Losing two babies?? At the same time? There was a family plot in another part, from the 1800s. There were two stones for babies. They were both a year old. They passed about ten years apart. Still, the pain, ugh.
I wandered and couldn't help but wonder how many of the babies had passed from CHDs. The area we were in were all babies from about the 1950s-1960s. Surgeries weren't what they are now. I don't think they were even repairing TAPVR at that point. How many babies died from this horrible thing? It was all just too close for comfort.
Anyhow, we then roamed downtown looking for geocaches. We ended up along the bike path. We covered several miles today. We only found two caches, but it was so fun.
We have waited so long for lovely weather in which to spend time outside in.
OK, I am rambling. We also went to the doctor last week.
Matthew saw the new glaucoma doctor. His pressure was higher than ever before.
He is having surgery on Tuesday. This one has hit me hard. It was so unexpected. And while Matthew doesn't really complain, he has started saying that this week is going to be awful and not fair. We try to be upbeat, but he is right. It all stinks and I wish I could take it all away from him.
On Friday we are headed to my brother-in-laws graduation. He is getting his doctorate in physical therapy. We are all so proud of him and are looking forward to seeing all the family.
However, I am so overwhelmed with what needs to be done this week. My house is in such disarray right now, and honestly, we are going to be going, going, going.
It will all work out, I just feel way overwhelmed.
I guess I decided to write it all out right now, and if you are still around, thanks for reading!
We have been so crazy busy that I could make multiple entries, and maybe I will. Or not. We'll see how things go.
Last week we, and by we, I mean me, decided that we would have a week of no TV, no iTouch, no DS, etc.
We also downloaded the geocaching app on my phone last week. It also happened to be the week that the weather finally warmed up.
We spent last Sunday traipsing around finding caches. It was a lot of fun, and I think it will help us learn where things are here.
Throughout the week, we stopped at multiple caches.
It was also a great week for playing at the park. We spent a lot of time at the parks this week.
What we didn't do was a whole lot of school. Shame on us. It was just too nice to be inside. I'm thinking school is about to end. We are at stopping points for everything except math. And I'm the boss, we can stop math when I say. Hehe. Besides all that, geocaching is educational!
Today, we decided to add Letterboxing. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon walking around.
Our first letterboxes were a series of 4 that told a bunch of history of the town near us. It was cool, we went around the cemetery where many of the founding fathers of the town are buried. When we were done, we checked out the first buildings in the town. Very cool.
I have always thought I wanted to explore cemeteries. There are so many stories buried in cemeteries.
I changed my mind today.
The final letterbox was right beside one of the baby cemeteries there. I wandered. Matt told me not to, but I just couldn't help it.
So much heartache. I shed a few tears for all the lost babies. All the hurting parents. I cannot imagine. There was a stone that simply said, "Williams Twins". Another was for twin, one lived 2 days, the other 7. Can you imagine? Losing two babies?? At the same time? There was a family plot in another part, from the 1800s. There were two stones for babies. They were both a year old. They passed about ten years apart. Still, the pain, ugh.
I wandered and couldn't help but wonder how many of the babies had passed from CHDs. The area we were in were all babies from about the 1950s-1960s. Surgeries weren't what they are now. I don't think they were even repairing TAPVR at that point. How many babies died from this horrible thing? It was all just too close for comfort.
Anyhow, we then roamed downtown looking for geocaches. We ended up along the bike path. We covered several miles today. We only found two caches, but it was so fun.
We have waited so long for lovely weather in which to spend time outside in.
OK, I am rambling. We also went to the doctor last week.
Matthew saw the new glaucoma doctor. His pressure was higher than ever before.
He is having surgery on Tuesday. This one has hit me hard. It was so unexpected. And while Matthew doesn't really complain, he has started saying that this week is going to be awful and not fair. We try to be upbeat, but he is right. It all stinks and I wish I could take it all away from him.
On Friday we are headed to my brother-in-laws graduation. He is getting his doctorate in physical therapy. We are all so proud of him and are looking forward to seeing all the family.
However, I am so overwhelmed with what needs to be done this week. My house is in such disarray right now, and honestly, we are going to be going, going, going.
It will all work out, I just feel way overwhelmed.
I guess I decided to write it all out right now, and if you are still around, thanks for reading!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
oh blah dee, oh blah dah, life goes on....
I was on such a roll!! What happened?
I ran out of things to say. Maybe. It just seems so unimportant.
I'll update you on the kids though! Medical updates, lucky you!
OK first up...Dillon.
Took him to the orthopaedist. Turns out his funny bone is bruised. Since it's a nerve, it will take a little while to heal and to stop hurting. It will be fine though. While there, they talked about the abnormality they saw at the ER. They told us at the ER that the abnormality was where the pain is. However, it wasn't. It is right at his joint. They took an x-ray of the other arm, and it also has the same abnormality. He is actually missing part of his elbow bone, and the cartilage. This is on both elbows. Right now, it doesn't cause him any problems, but in the future, it could cause catching and pain. Time will tell!
Zachy. You didn't know there was an issue with Zachy. There isn't. Phew. The doctor got an alert from his transmission saying a lead wasn't working. We had to go in to make sure it hadn't come loose and wasn't floating around in his heart! Turns out, it was a glitch in the system, and his lead is working just fine. Thank goodness!!
Matthew saw the ophthalmologist the other day. We really, really don't like him. I could go on and on about why we don't, but that's pointless. Anyway, the good news is he decided he would refer us to the glaucoma doctor off base, and won't be seeing Matthew anymore. I hope we like the glaucoma doc!!
Let's see...I think that's it. We have dentist appointments on Friday, which is always so much fun. Ha!! Actually, my kids love the dentist, so it's not bad.
Other than all these appointments, we have been so busy with school and swimming and play practice. Zachy passed to the next level in swimming. He had his first lesson on Tuesday. He moved from the therapy pool, to swimming laps in the big pool. He really struggled and his teacher told me he really lacks the endurance at this point to make it across the pool. Hopefully, he overcomes this quickly!
Collin chose not to do swimming lessons this month.
Emily is in her same class, doing so great. I'm so proud of her, and I think she'll be passing pretty soon.
OK, I'm done rambling. Maybe I'll come up with something good to write soon!
I ran out of things to say. Maybe. It just seems so unimportant.
I'll update you on the kids though! Medical updates, lucky you!
OK first up...Dillon.
Took him to the orthopaedist. Turns out his funny bone is bruised. Since it's a nerve, it will take a little while to heal and to stop hurting. It will be fine though. While there, they talked about the abnormality they saw at the ER. They told us at the ER that the abnormality was where the pain is. However, it wasn't. It is right at his joint. They took an x-ray of the other arm, and it also has the same abnormality. He is actually missing part of his elbow bone, and the cartilage. This is on both elbows. Right now, it doesn't cause him any problems, but in the future, it could cause catching and pain. Time will tell!
Zachy. You didn't know there was an issue with Zachy. There isn't. Phew. The doctor got an alert from his transmission saying a lead wasn't working. We had to go in to make sure it hadn't come loose and wasn't floating around in his heart! Turns out, it was a glitch in the system, and his lead is working just fine. Thank goodness!!
Matthew saw the ophthalmologist the other day. We really, really don't like him. I could go on and on about why we don't, but that's pointless. Anyway, the good news is he decided he would refer us to the glaucoma doctor off base, and won't be seeing Matthew anymore. I hope we like the glaucoma doc!!
Let's see...I think that's it. We have dentist appointments on Friday, which is always so much fun. Ha!! Actually, my kids love the dentist, so it's not bad.
Other than all these appointments, we have been so busy with school and swimming and play practice. Zachy passed to the next level in swimming. He had his first lesson on Tuesday. He moved from the therapy pool, to swimming laps in the big pool. He really struggled and his teacher told me he really lacks the endurance at this point to make it across the pool. Hopefully, he overcomes this quickly!
Collin chose not to do swimming lessons this month.
Emily is in her same class, doing so great. I'm so proud of her, and I think she'll be passing pretty soon.
OK, I'm done rambling. Maybe I'll come up with something good to write soon!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Update
Yesterday, Natalie got to come home from the hospital.
What I learned through this illness is how quickly kids go downhill, and also how quickly they get better.
One day she was on oxygen, the next, going home.
I am so, so grateful to have my little girl. Things were so scary. I'm glad to be done with that, and never ever want to experience something like that again.
I am certain that RSV is the devil. Seriously. To see all the itty bitty babies on vents because of this awful illness was just heartbreaking.
But...we are home now. Ready to put it all behind us and move on.
I am so thankful to all the people who brought meals to my family, who offered to watch the kids, and most importantly, I am thankful to everyone who prayed without ceasing. God is good...all the time.
It's time to get back to living. we lost a week there, and it is hard to get back into the swing of things. Today is just a kick back and relax kind of day, even though there is much to be done. The work will always be there.
What I learned through this illness is how quickly kids go downhill, and also how quickly they get better.
One day she was on oxygen, the next, going home.
I am so, so grateful to have my little girl. Things were so scary. I'm glad to be done with that, and never ever want to experience something like that again.
I am certain that RSV is the devil. Seriously. To see all the itty bitty babies on vents because of this awful illness was just heartbreaking.
But...we are home now. Ready to put it all behind us and move on.
I am so thankful to all the people who brought meals to my family, who offered to watch the kids, and most importantly, I am thankful to everyone who prayed without ceasing. God is good...all the time.
It's time to get back to living. we lost a week there, and it is hard to get back into the swing of things. Today is just a kick back and relax kind of day, even though there is much to be done. The work will always be there.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Stop the Ride, I Want to Get Off!
I sit here updating my little blog from a room in the PICU. We have been living here since last Saturday. One week in this little room. It's been quite the ride, and if you don't mind, I'd like to get off now.
Last Wednesday, Natalie had a bit of a cold. A little cough here and there, but nothing remarkable. I think on Thursday, I commented on Facebook that her breathing was off, but nothing too exciting, just fast breathing.
By Friday, I was calling the doctor, certain I would take her in and have them tell me it was a virus that had to run it's course. These things always happen on the weekend, so if something bad was going to happen, I needed to get into the doctor on Friday.
We went and the doctor was concerned about her mild retractions. She swabbed her for flu and RSV. The rapid test on both of those came back negative, but she had to send them off to grow more. She wasn't comfortable sending her home though, because of the retractions, and oh yes, the fever she now had. She wanted Nannie to go to the children's hospital for observation.
When we got there we were to check in through the emergency department. They didn't have a room for her, so we sat downstairs for two hours, waiting. During this time, Nan was up and down, acting pretty normal. The thought did go through my head that this was all ridiculous and total overkill.
We finally got into a room to wait through the night. Tylenol was given. Her retractions got worse and her O2 sats started to drop. I don't remember when, but at some point in the night, they started her on O2. They tried doing a breathing treatment, but that didn't help at all. In the middle of the night the resident called for another treatment, which also didn't help. We took her downstairs for a chest x-ray which revealed what they had suspected, bronchiolitis.
Through the night things worsened. At some point Saturday, they wanted another x-ray, only this time she wasn't well enough to go downstairs, they had to come to her. She went downhill that quick.
We were on an observation floor and the nurse was trying to get us into a room elsewhere because she needed more care. The residents were all dumb and no one wanted to take her. Our nurse felt she needed the PICU but they refused to take her. She was going downhill so rapidly that the nurse informed me of the response team they had there. She wanted me to know that she was right on the cusp of crashing, not a code blue, but she was certain she would be calling them to intubate her. She said you can only breathe so fast for so long before your body quits. Finally, they moved us to another room, on a regular pediatric floor.
Things continued to deteriorate. I was the only one who could see the monitors unless a nurse was physically in the room with us. We stayed on that floor for a matter of hours before they deemed her bad enough to go to the PICU. So, since Saturday, we've been here.
At first they didn't know what was wrong, but the slow test for RSV came back positive. It is a virus that just has to run it's course. By Sunday morning, her chest x-ray showed pneumonia as well.
They told me the peak of the illness was about 3-4 days. However, day after day, we saw no improvement.
She has been on high flow O2 since last Saturday night. Throughout the week they've tried to wean her, to no avail, and have in fact had to go up on the flow several times. Currently, she's on 3 liters at 50% flow.
She has developed horrible diarrhea. She did have an ND tube in, but it kept coming out so because of the dehydration from the diarrhea, she is back on IV fluids.
Yesterday, they tried to sedate her for an echo. They wanted to look at her heart just to see if anything was going on there to explain why this is taking so long. Let me tell you, she doesn't sedate well. They gave her full doses of three meds and she fought all of them. Finally, they gave up. She was soooo crabby yesterday, it was awful. It was like she would go to sleep, but her little body couldn't relax. Finally, they decided to sedate her using something that the doctor had to be present to administer. Even with that, when they pulled a sticker off her she woke up.
She has had a horrible week. Everything they do to her is so awful. They deep suction her by sending a tube up her nose down her throat and just sucking it all out. She has been on compression vest therapy where they just shake the daylights out of her to loosen the junk in her lungs. It's just been awful. She is so afraid when someone new enters the room, and it just breaks my heart.
As of yesterday, we seem to be making progress in the right direction. She went from 60% flow to 50% flow and it's just kind of a waiting game now.
When they rounded they said, "she's making progress, just slower than we'd expect, but at least she isn't backsliding".
At this point, I have no idea how much longer we'll be in the hospital. She has to be off the high flow to get out of the PICU. From there she'll spend some time on the regular pediatric floor, before being discharged.
Through all of this, I am so thankful that Matt is able to take time off to be home with the kids so I can stay with Nannie. I haven't left since Friday, but that's OK. I can't bear the thought of locking her up in the crib just so I can leave. I mean it's not like the nurses can stay with her and hold her. If she were sedated, that would be one thing, but since she's awake, nope...can't do it.
Anyway, that's where we are. Playing the waiting game. It's been a stressful ride, and I'd like to get off now!
Friday night, still in observation...I thought she looked so sick here..little did I know what was in store!
Getting sicker, I'm not sure what night this was..but she was one sick little girl.
Shaking her. This picture breaks my heart because her eyes are pleading with us to help her. I've seen that look too many times this week.
Cute dinosaur masks to nothing for 14 month olds!
This was last night....she hadn't slept all day, nor most of the night before. She's making up for it now though.
OH!!! And I forgot to mention...on Sunday, Emily and Zachy got fevers and started breathing poorly. Nan's nurse said Matt needed to take them to the ER. Thankfully, they were sent home on tylenol and fluids and are doing much better!
Last Wednesday, Natalie had a bit of a cold. A little cough here and there, but nothing remarkable. I think on Thursday, I commented on Facebook that her breathing was off, but nothing too exciting, just fast breathing.
By Friday, I was calling the doctor, certain I would take her in and have them tell me it was a virus that had to run it's course. These things always happen on the weekend, so if something bad was going to happen, I needed to get into the doctor on Friday.
We went and the doctor was concerned about her mild retractions. She swabbed her for flu and RSV. The rapid test on both of those came back negative, but she had to send them off to grow more. She wasn't comfortable sending her home though, because of the retractions, and oh yes, the fever she now had. She wanted Nannie to go to the children's hospital for observation.
When we got there we were to check in through the emergency department. They didn't have a room for her, so we sat downstairs for two hours, waiting. During this time, Nan was up and down, acting pretty normal. The thought did go through my head that this was all ridiculous and total overkill.
We finally got into a room to wait through the night. Tylenol was given. Her retractions got worse and her O2 sats started to drop. I don't remember when, but at some point in the night, they started her on O2. They tried doing a breathing treatment, but that didn't help at all. In the middle of the night the resident called for another treatment, which also didn't help. We took her downstairs for a chest x-ray which revealed what they had suspected, bronchiolitis.
Through the night things worsened. At some point Saturday, they wanted another x-ray, only this time she wasn't well enough to go downstairs, they had to come to her. She went downhill that quick.
We were on an observation floor and the nurse was trying to get us into a room elsewhere because she needed more care. The residents were all dumb and no one wanted to take her. Our nurse felt she needed the PICU but they refused to take her. She was going downhill so rapidly that the nurse informed me of the response team they had there. She wanted me to know that she was right on the cusp of crashing, not a code blue, but she was certain she would be calling them to intubate her. She said you can only breathe so fast for so long before your body quits. Finally, they moved us to another room, on a regular pediatric floor.
Things continued to deteriorate. I was the only one who could see the monitors unless a nurse was physically in the room with us. We stayed on that floor for a matter of hours before they deemed her bad enough to go to the PICU. So, since Saturday, we've been here.
At first they didn't know what was wrong, but the slow test for RSV came back positive. It is a virus that just has to run it's course. By Sunday morning, her chest x-ray showed pneumonia as well.
They told me the peak of the illness was about 3-4 days. However, day after day, we saw no improvement.
She has been on high flow O2 since last Saturday night. Throughout the week they've tried to wean her, to no avail, and have in fact had to go up on the flow several times. Currently, she's on 3 liters at 50% flow.
She has developed horrible diarrhea. She did have an ND tube in, but it kept coming out so because of the dehydration from the diarrhea, she is back on IV fluids.
Yesterday, they tried to sedate her for an echo. They wanted to look at her heart just to see if anything was going on there to explain why this is taking so long. Let me tell you, she doesn't sedate well. They gave her full doses of three meds and she fought all of them. Finally, they gave up. She was soooo crabby yesterday, it was awful. It was like she would go to sleep, but her little body couldn't relax. Finally, they decided to sedate her using something that the doctor had to be present to administer. Even with that, when they pulled a sticker off her she woke up.
She has had a horrible week. Everything they do to her is so awful. They deep suction her by sending a tube up her nose down her throat and just sucking it all out. She has been on compression vest therapy where they just shake the daylights out of her to loosen the junk in her lungs. It's just been awful. She is so afraid when someone new enters the room, and it just breaks my heart.
As of yesterday, we seem to be making progress in the right direction. She went from 60% flow to 50% flow and it's just kind of a waiting game now.
When they rounded they said, "she's making progress, just slower than we'd expect, but at least she isn't backsliding".
At this point, I have no idea how much longer we'll be in the hospital. She has to be off the high flow to get out of the PICU. From there she'll spend some time on the regular pediatric floor, before being discharged.
Through all of this, I am so thankful that Matt is able to take time off to be home with the kids so I can stay with Nannie. I haven't left since Friday, but that's OK. I can't bear the thought of locking her up in the crib just so I can leave. I mean it's not like the nurses can stay with her and hold her. If she were sedated, that would be one thing, but since she's awake, nope...can't do it.
Anyway, that's where we are. Playing the waiting game. It's been a stressful ride, and I'd like to get off now!
Friday night, still in observation...I thought she looked so sick here..little did I know what was in store!
Getting sicker, I'm not sure what night this was..but she was one sick little girl.
Shaking her. This picture breaks my heart because her eyes are pleading with us to help her. I've seen that look too many times this week.
Cute dinosaur masks to nothing for 14 month olds!
This was last night....she hadn't slept all day, nor most of the night before. She's making up for it now though.
OH!!! And I forgot to mention...on Sunday, Emily and Zachy got fevers and started breathing poorly. Nan's nurse said Matt needed to take them to the ER. Thankfully, they were sent home on tylenol and fluids and are doing much better!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Spilling it
Lately, I'm really struggling with myself.
I am so unhappy with my body. I have been my entire life. I feel like a broken record, I know you have heard this all before.
My weight affects almost every part of my life. I hate meeting new people, because in my head, I am thinking that they are thinking what a fatty I am. I especially hate meeting new people with Matt, then I'm really certain that they are looking at us wondering what he is doing with me.
The one place it doesn't affect me is with Matt. I know, without a doubt, that he loves me, no matter what I weigh.
My kids like to tell me what a jiggly belly I have. It's awful.
You would think that this would be enough to do something. I started weight watchers last week, I did really well. Then this week came and I totally fell off the wagon, and I gained everything back. Which tells me that I lost water weight, but still.
I feel like such a huge failure. I hate that this consumes me, and yet I don't have enough will power to change this.
I sabotage myself. I tell myself that I need to lose weight, and I think that for a long time. Then I tell myself that I really just need to be happy with myself.
*sigh* I don't know..I just feel like a huge failure.
I am so unhappy with my body. I have been my entire life. I feel like a broken record, I know you have heard this all before.
My weight affects almost every part of my life. I hate meeting new people, because in my head, I am thinking that they are thinking what a fatty I am. I especially hate meeting new people with Matt, then I'm really certain that they are looking at us wondering what he is doing with me.
The one place it doesn't affect me is with Matt. I know, without a doubt, that he loves me, no matter what I weigh.
My kids like to tell me what a jiggly belly I have. It's awful.
You would think that this would be enough to do something. I started weight watchers last week, I did really well. Then this week came and I totally fell off the wagon, and I gained everything back. Which tells me that I lost water weight, but still.
I feel like such a huge failure. I hate that this consumes me, and yet I don't have enough will power to change this.
I sabotage myself. I tell myself that I need to lose weight, and I think that for a long time. Then I tell myself that I really just need to be happy with myself.
*sigh* I don't know..I just feel like a huge failure.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
What a Nightmare!
Oh my goodness...what a horrible week this has been.
It started on Monday, with Zachy's surgery. They had a hard time because the lead wire giving them trouble was somehow wrapped around a muscle. Instead of the hour and a half they were expecting, he was in three and a half hours. There was lots of muscle manipulation, which caused him so much more pain than they first thought.
The first night, they thought he was doing pretty good, but then he started vomiting. He was unable to keep anything down. Finally, by mid morning that had passed and they discharged him.
He was pretty miserable all Tuesday.
Wednesday morning we woke up to Matthew feeling very poorly. Through the day, Dillon started feeling poorly as well.
I talked to Matt and he said he too, was feeling bad.
By the time it was time for Matt to come home he was feeling so bad that he almost called me to come pick him up. He made it home, but immediately crashed on the bed.
Thursday came and Matt stayed home from work, feeling horrible.
By this time everyone but Natalie and me, was feeling the crud. What sounded like a simple cold, was wiping my family out. They had coughs and headaches and lots of sinus congestion. Fevers as well.
Friday, Matt went to work, only to come home a couple hours later. I started to worry about him because he was in bad shape, and didn't seem to be getting any better.
It's strange, because writing this out, I realize it was a relatively short amount of time, but it all felt like an eternity.
Last night, people's appetites started coming back, so we had breakfast for dinner.
At bed time, Nannie started throwing up. This was different from what everyone else was suffering. She continued to throw up all night long. She would throw up and then want to nurse for comfort. She doesn't realize that nursing would make her throw up more. So all night the cycle continued.
This morning, Matt was feeling a lot better. The kids are all doing better as well.
Natalie went all day without vomiting, but has now started again. We shall see what the night brings.
Somehow, I have managed to not get ill. I'm worried that it is going to hit me soon, but so far, so good.
It has been a horrible, horrible week, and I am SO glad it's over.
Zachy isn't in too much pain at this point either. Thank goodness!
It started on Monday, with Zachy's surgery. They had a hard time because the lead wire giving them trouble was somehow wrapped around a muscle. Instead of the hour and a half they were expecting, he was in three and a half hours. There was lots of muscle manipulation, which caused him so much more pain than they first thought.
The first night, they thought he was doing pretty good, but then he started vomiting. He was unable to keep anything down. Finally, by mid morning that had passed and they discharged him.
He was pretty miserable all Tuesday.
Wednesday morning we woke up to Matthew feeling very poorly. Through the day, Dillon started feeling poorly as well.
I talked to Matt and he said he too, was feeling bad.
By the time it was time for Matt to come home he was feeling so bad that he almost called me to come pick him up. He made it home, but immediately crashed on the bed.
Thursday came and Matt stayed home from work, feeling horrible.
By this time everyone but Natalie and me, was feeling the crud. What sounded like a simple cold, was wiping my family out. They had coughs and headaches and lots of sinus congestion. Fevers as well.
Friday, Matt went to work, only to come home a couple hours later. I started to worry about him because he was in bad shape, and didn't seem to be getting any better.
It's strange, because writing this out, I realize it was a relatively short amount of time, but it all felt like an eternity.
Last night, people's appetites started coming back, so we had breakfast for dinner.
At bed time, Nannie started throwing up. This was different from what everyone else was suffering. She continued to throw up all night long. She would throw up and then want to nurse for comfort. She doesn't realize that nursing would make her throw up more. So all night the cycle continued.
This morning, Matt was feeling a lot better. The kids are all doing better as well.
Natalie went all day without vomiting, but has now started again. We shall see what the night brings.
Somehow, I have managed to not get ill. I'm worried that it is going to hit me soon, but so far, so good.
It has been a horrible, horrible week, and I am SO glad it's over.
Zachy isn't in too much pain at this point either. Thank goodness!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Darn that DQ
I know..two posts in one day...when I'm supposed to be seriously working here...what am I thinking?!?!?
I'll tell you what I'm thinking.
I'm thinking why oh why is DQ advertising a chocolate truffle blizzard?
How can they do this to me???
Do you know how heavenly that sounds??
How badly I want to shimmy right on over there and devour one??
I need to vacuum the van out, and wash it. There is a car wash right next door to a DQ! I keep thinking, "hmmm, I'll just go clean the van and snag a blizzard while I'm out!" ACK!!
They I have every intention of sabotaging my weight loss efforts, I'm sure of it!
Them and the stupid makers of Easter candy!!
MUST. RESIST.
Edited to add...I was searching for a yummy looking picture to go with this post when I came across the horrifying news that one medium sized blizzard has 1020 calories!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! Why? WHY? WHY?!?!?!?
I'll tell you what I'm thinking.
I'm thinking why oh why is DQ advertising a chocolate truffle blizzard?
How can they do this to me???
Do you know how heavenly that sounds??
How badly I want to shimmy right on over there and devour one??
I need to vacuum the van out, and wash it. There is a car wash right next door to a DQ! I keep thinking, "hmmm, I'll just go clean the van and snag a blizzard while I'm out!" ACK!!
They I have every intention of sabotaging my weight loss efforts, I'm sure of it!
Them and the stupid makers of Easter candy!!
MUST. RESIST.
Edited to add...I was searching for a yummy looking picture to go with this post when I came across the horrifying news that one medium sized blizzard has 1020 calories!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! Why? WHY? WHY?!?!?!?
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Go ME!!
I have lost 20 pounds! GO ME!!
In January, I set a goal to lose 20 pounds by the time we went to Disney World. Everyone said that would be so easy, but it hasn't. It's been very, very hard. And I've wanted to quit many times, but I kept on pushing forward.
I don't know if I can count the last 2 1/2 pounds because they are a result of my time with the porcelain throne yesterday, but I'm counting them anyway!
What totally stinks though, is that after 20 pounds, you really can't tell a difference in the way I look. Tells you how much I still have to lose!
But still, I'm proud of me.
In January, I set a goal to lose 20 pounds by the time we went to Disney World. Everyone said that would be so easy, but it hasn't. It's been very, very hard. And I've wanted to quit many times, but I kept on pushing forward.
I don't know if I can count the last 2 1/2 pounds because they are a result of my time with the porcelain throne yesterday, but I'm counting them anyway!
What totally stinks though, is that after 20 pounds, you really can't tell a difference in the way I look. Tells you how much I still have to lose!
But still, I'm proud of me.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Last man standing
Matthew, Zachy, and Dillon all succumbed to this bug last night.
Leaving me the last man standing.
Only, I don't know how long I'll be standing...not feeling so hot right now.
At least, though, we are getting it all over with. My mom is supposed to come visit the end of next week, so I'm glad to have had this and be done with it.
Leaving me the last man standing.
Only, I don't know how long I'll be standing...not feeling so hot right now.
At least, though, we are getting it all over with. My mom is supposed to come visit the end of next week, so I'm glad to have had this and be done with it.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Two Down, Five to Go
Emmie started vomiting tonight. And Matt says he's not sure he'll make it through the night.
It sounds awful, but I wish everyone would get this all at once so we can just be done with it.
Collin hasn't thrown up since mid afternoon, but is so weak and pale still. I hope tomorrow brings him happy things.
Wish us luck!
It sounds awful, but I wish everyone would get this all at once so we can just be done with it.
Collin hasn't thrown up since mid afternoon, but is so weak and pale still. I hope tomorrow brings him happy things.
Wish us luck!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Crazy Busy
It's been hard to sit down long enough to write an entry. I'm not sure I'll get through this one either, but I'll try.
School has us very, very busy. We are starting some new things. Matthew and Dillon are participating in the Science Fair this year, so we've been brainstorming. My sister recommended growing bacteria, of course Dillon jumped on that idea. So he will be doing a bacterial experiment of some sort. And Matthew will be growing plants using different types of lights. I'm excited that they are getting this opportunity. I never participated in a science fair, and honestly don't ever remember our school holding one.
We are also taking a stab at lapbooking.
Lapbooking can be done by any learner-- from preschoolers to adults. With this educational method, you make mini-books covering details that you've studied. After making a variety of mini-books about a larger topic, all the books are put together in a large folder. The finished product is called a lapbook because it's large and covers your lap.
The completed lapbook will serve as a review tool as your children refer to it over and over again. And if you have to keep a homeschool portfolio to document learning each year, lapbooks can be a very impressive addition- from http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking
I've been wanting to try this for years, but it always seemed like so much work. It is not at all. It's fun! I decided that we would learn about Disney World before our trip. So in addition to our regular schooling, we are doing a study of Disneyland (since it was the original). The kids are having a blast with it, and when we are done, I'll post pictures.
The Pathfinders hosted a valentine's banquet at church to help them raise money for Osh Kosh. They raised about $500, but it was an awful lot of work. Matthew told us that night that he was never going to be a pathfinder director because it was too much work. Poor kid!
Emily is doing better after her last med raise. I think, though, that it won't be too awful long before we have to go up again. I cannot believe that her birthday is right around the corner. March 3 will be here soon, and she'll be 2 years old. How did that happen? She has renewed our love for Sandra Boynton books, especially 'Blue Hat, Green Hat'. They have to be the best books ever written. We've also discovered that she is awfully cute in orange! Who wouldda thunk??
Our healthy living group at church is trucking along, and I'm down 9 pounds. It seems to be going soooo slow. It's frustrating. But with the support of the ladies at church, I'm not giving up!
And finally, please keep Zachy in your prayers. He is back to tiring out easily. I hate that. I assume it will be another adjustment to his pacemaker. I just wonder if it will be a life long thing, this tiredness. He is supposed to see his doctor in May, but I'm going to try to get the appointment in April instead since we will be gone most of May.
Phew! That was long, and it took me a very long time to write it. I had to read books and play a game of Candyland during the writing of this post. Thanks for hanging out with me for this long!
School has us very, very busy. We are starting some new things. Matthew and Dillon are participating in the Science Fair this year, so we've been brainstorming. My sister recommended growing bacteria, of course Dillon jumped on that idea. So he will be doing a bacterial experiment of some sort. And Matthew will be growing plants using different types of lights. I'm excited that they are getting this opportunity. I never participated in a science fair, and honestly don't ever remember our school holding one.
We are also taking a stab at lapbooking.
Lapbooking can be done by any learner-- from preschoolers to adults. With this educational method, you make mini-books covering details that you've studied. After making a variety of mini-books about a larger topic, all the books are put together in a large folder. The finished product is called a lapbook because it's large and covers your lap.
The completed lapbook will serve as a review tool as your children refer to it over and over again. And if you have to keep a homeschool portfolio to document learning each year, lapbooks can be a very impressive addition- from http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking
I've been wanting to try this for years, but it always seemed like so much work. It is not at all. It's fun! I decided that we would learn about Disney World before our trip. So in addition to our regular schooling, we are doing a study of Disneyland (since it was the original). The kids are having a blast with it, and when we are done, I'll post pictures.
The Pathfinders hosted a valentine's banquet at church to help them raise money for Osh Kosh. They raised about $500, but it was an awful lot of work. Matthew told us that night that he was never going to be a pathfinder director because it was too much work. Poor kid!
Emily is doing better after her last med raise. I think, though, that it won't be too awful long before we have to go up again. I cannot believe that her birthday is right around the corner. March 3 will be here soon, and she'll be 2 years old. How did that happen? She has renewed our love for Sandra Boynton books, especially 'Blue Hat, Green Hat'. They have to be the best books ever written. We've also discovered that she is awfully cute in orange! Who wouldda thunk??
Our healthy living group at church is trucking along, and I'm down 9 pounds. It seems to be going soooo slow. It's frustrating. But with the support of the ladies at church, I'm not giving up!
And finally, please keep Zachy in your prayers. He is back to tiring out easily. I hate that. I assume it will be another adjustment to his pacemaker. I just wonder if it will be a life long thing, this tiredness. He is supposed to see his doctor in May, but I'm going to try to get the appointment in April instead since we will be gone most of May.
Phew! That was long, and it took me a very long time to write it. I had to read books and play a game of Candyland during the writing of this post. Thanks for hanging out with me for this long!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
What has happened to the Monkey's??
So after my last entry we all proceeded to get sick. It hasn't been fun in these parts.
It's starts out innocent enough...just a cough. You don't even feel bad, you just cough. And it's lovely, you cough up phlegm. But alas, you just cough.
But then, oh my lands, it hits you. And it plows you down like the snow plows that are undoubtedly plowing in other parts of the country.
It comes with a nice high fever (104 in my kids) and aches and pains. And sleepless nights because of the endless hacking.
And. if you are particularly lucky, it all changes into pneumonia like it did for poor Zachy.
The very worst part of all of this is that we are leaving tomorrow for vacation. Friends, the Monkey Family never goes on vacation, and we were so looking forward to this break from reality.
But, we will forge on. We will pack our family up along with a plethora of cough meds and antibiotics and throat lozenges. We will brave this illness and be determined to have a good time. And we will SUCCEED!!
I think this may be possible because I think we are all on the downhill side of this. Everyone except Matt, who is just coming into it. Poor thing.
While I'm forcing us to have a good time, I won't have computer access. We are old school folk who don't have a laptop. But I want to take this opportunity to wish every one of you a very, merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy your families this year and please don't forget the reason for the season. Our wonderful savior, Jesus Christ. May God richly bless you this season.
I'll see you on the flip side!
It's starts out innocent enough...just a cough. You don't even feel bad, you just cough. And it's lovely, you cough up phlegm. But alas, you just cough.
But then, oh my lands, it hits you. And it plows you down like the snow plows that are undoubtedly plowing in other parts of the country.
It comes with a nice high fever (104 in my kids) and aches and pains. And sleepless nights because of the endless hacking.
And. if you are particularly lucky, it all changes into pneumonia like it did for poor Zachy.
The very worst part of all of this is that we are leaving tomorrow for vacation. Friends, the Monkey Family never goes on vacation, and we were so looking forward to this break from reality.
But, we will forge on. We will pack our family up along with a plethora of cough meds and antibiotics and throat lozenges. We will brave this illness and be determined to have a good time. And we will SUCCEED!!
I think this may be possible because I think we are all on the downhill side of this. Everyone except Matt, who is just coming into it. Poor thing.
While I'm forcing us to have a good time, I won't have computer access. We are old school folk who don't have a laptop. But I want to take this opportunity to wish every one of you a very, merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy your families this year and please don't forget the reason for the season. Our wonderful savior, Jesus Christ. May God richly bless you this season.
I'll see you on the flip side!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Craniofacial Board Today
We had a long, busy day today.
Matthew got hooked up with the craniofacial board today. The purpose of this was to establish him with the plastic surgeons and ENTs here on base. Of course, the craniofacial board includes speech, audiology, oral surgery, orthodontia, pediatrics, genetics, plastic surgery, and ENT. Everyone sees him. Except, genetics. We needed to see them, and they didn't show up. Phooey on them! We had some unanswered questions for them.
Everything was as expected, except for a couple of things.
The first being that this base actually provides orthodontic care for children. Most do not. I didn't know this. Matthew is to the point where he just needs braces. Once all his permanent teeth come in. We've already used up his lifetime maximum amount of insurance coverage, so we are looking at paying 100% of his braces. If I can get him taken care of on base, it'd be free. We are definitely going to go forth with this plan as his teeth come in.
The second is that the ENT says it's time for his tonsils and adenoids to come out. Matthew says no way, he thinks his body parts need to stay right where they are. We go back in September, after Matt and I have discussed it, to schedule everything. We will be going forth with this too.
The plastic surgeon and ENT both agreed that he still has too much growing to do to be worrying about his final rhinoplasty. Originally, we were told 12-13 years old. Today they agreed on 15-16. So that makes Matthew happy. Although, when we left, I asked him how he felt about it. He admitted that sometimes his nose really bothers him. There's not much we can do about it though. Just wait.
So that is about it from the board.
In different news, Emmie saw the dentist last week. She essentially has bottle rot. We are so devastated about this since she doesn't take a bottle and we brush her teeth regularly. After finding out about the different meds she's been on, including inhaled steroids for months while her teeth were coming in, and reflux and whatnot, the dentist said her poor mouth didn't have a chance. So I feel better about that, at least we didn't do anything wrong. But, she has to have caps on all four of her front teeth. Which will be a sedated surgery at the hospital.
So, this year we will have had Zachy get a pacemaker, Matthew have oral surgery to remove teeth that were ankylose, Emmie getting caps, and Matthew's tonsils and adenoids out. That's about 4 too many surgeries this year for me!!
So that's what's up in our neck of the woods today!
Matthew got hooked up with the craniofacial board today. The purpose of this was to establish him with the plastic surgeons and ENTs here on base. Of course, the craniofacial board includes speech, audiology, oral surgery, orthodontia, pediatrics, genetics, plastic surgery, and ENT. Everyone sees him. Except, genetics. We needed to see them, and they didn't show up. Phooey on them! We had some unanswered questions for them.
Everything was as expected, except for a couple of things.
The first being that this base actually provides orthodontic care for children. Most do not. I didn't know this. Matthew is to the point where he just needs braces. Once all his permanent teeth come in. We've already used up his lifetime maximum amount of insurance coverage, so we are looking at paying 100% of his braces. If I can get him taken care of on base, it'd be free. We are definitely going to go forth with this plan as his teeth come in.
The second is that the ENT says it's time for his tonsils and adenoids to come out. Matthew says no way, he thinks his body parts need to stay right where they are. We go back in September, after Matt and I have discussed it, to schedule everything. We will be going forth with this too.
The plastic surgeon and ENT both agreed that he still has too much growing to do to be worrying about his final rhinoplasty. Originally, we were told 12-13 years old. Today they agreed on 15-16. So that makes Matthew happy. Although, when we left, I asked him how he felt about it. He admitted that sometimes his nose really bothers him. There's not much we can do about it though. Just wait.
So that is about it from the board.
In different news, Emmie saw the dentist last week. She essentially has bottle rot. We are so devastated about this since she doesn't take a bottle and we brush her teeth regularly. After finding out about the different meds she's been on, including inhaled steroids for months while her teeth were coming in, and reflux and whatnot, the dentist said her poor mouth didn't have a chance. So I feel better about that, at least we didn't do anything wrong. But, she has to have caps on all four of her front teeth. Which will be a sedated surgery at the hospital.
So, this year we will have had Zachy get a pacemaker, Matthew have oral surgery to remove teeth that were ankylose, Emmie getting caps, and Matthew's tonsils and adenoids out. That's about 4 too many surgeries this year for me!!
So that's what's up in our neck of the woods today!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Gettin fit
Yesterday, Matt surprised me with a Wii Fit. Good heavens is that thing keeping us entertained!
Matthew has already put 60 minutes into his Fit Bank today. Which is a silly little piggy bank that tells you how many minutes you've exercised.
Dillon is currently using it, even though he has a fever and a headache. He's had some meds, so he thinks he is well enough to do basic step aerobics. Crazy kid.
Matt did tons last night, and later I worked up a good sweat in 30 minutes.
My problem is that Emily has a sensor that senses when I'm doing something. For instance, she can be totally fine and happy playing, and then when I sit down at the computer she comes crying to me to hold her. It's the same with anything Wii related. She's fine, I pick up a remote and she's crying. So this could prove to be a challenge. Last night I had to wait until she was asleep, but then I'm too awake to be able to sleep.
I currently have a goal to lose 22 pounds in 3 months. That's the most and longest it would let me do. I have so much more to lose, but that's as far as it would go. I'm not off to a good start since today it told me my weight was up from last night. Phooey on it!
Ok I'm off to go hula hoop while Emmie is happy.
Matthew has already put 60 minutes into his Fit Bank today. Which is a silly little piggy bank that tells you how many minutes you've exercised.
Dillon is currently using it, even though he has a fever and a headache. He's had some meds, so he thinks he is well enough to do basic step aerobics. Crazy kid.
Matt did tons last night, and later I worked up a good sweat in 30 minutes.
My problem is that Emily has a sensor that senses when I'm doing something. For instance, she can be totally fine and happy playing, and then when I sit down at the computer she comes crying to me to hold her. It's the same with anything Wii related. She's fine, I pick up a remote and she's crying. So this could prove to be a challenge. Last night I had to wait until she was asleep, but then I'm too awake to be able to sleep.
I currently have a goal to lose 22 pounds in 3 months. That's the most and longest it would let me do. I have so much more to lose, but that's as far as it would go. I'm not off to a good start since today it told me my weight was up from last night. Phooey on it!
Ok I'm off to go hula hoop while Emmie is happy.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Happy Thoughts
I absolutely love having a clothesline. It is actually one of my favorite parts of my house. I've waited many years to have a clothesline. Silly, I know. But you should see little diapers on a line..soooo cute!
This little eye drop has lowered the pressure in Matthew's eye from 48 to 22. Yes, this makes me very, very happy.
Just one way we are trying to leave a smaller footprint on the earth. Earth day made me happy! This bag is full of other cloth bags, waiting to go back in the van.
Herbs! Growing in my window sill. Only not anymore. As of today they are in bigger pots outside. Matt is growing these because he loves to cook us yummy food, and got tired of paying big bucks for these herbs.
Dillon is studying birds. I don't know if you can see it, but there are three bird feeders in this picture. Another one is in another branch, and we have one on the window behind the herbs that the birds haven't discovered yet. We have very happy birds around here. Maybe next week I'll get a picture of the birds, and not just the feeders!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
No easy feat
I haven't mentioned it here, because I really hate being a gigantic loser in front of everyone, but I'm trying to lose weight.
I've been watching what I eat, and I've been exercising on a fairly regular basis. I've been going to the gym at night, by my lonesome, to try and work some of this fat off.
I thought I was doing well. I was down four pounds. Finally headed in the right direction.
Then today, I weighed. All four of those pounds are back. And I'm right back where I started.
I hate this. I hate trying so hard, thinking about it so much, for nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch. I hate it.
And I'm just having a bad day in general, so it probably doesn't help me at all. I just want to quit. Go eat some ice cream.
I hate this. *sob*
I've been watching what I eat, and I've been exercising on a fairly regular basis. I've been going to the gym at night, by my lonesome, to try and work some of this fat off.
I thought I was doing well. I was down four pounds. Finally headed in the right direction.
Then today, I weighed. All four of those pounds are back. And I'm right back where I started.
I hate this. I hate trying so hard, thinking about it so much, for nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch. I hate it.
And I'm just having a bad day in general, so it probably doesn't help me at all. I just want to quit. Go eat some ice cream.
I hate this. *sob*
Monday, April 14, 2008
The Eyes Have It
I'm sure I've used that title before, and I will probably use it again in the future. I hope, anyway.
Because what it means is that the good eyes in this family still outnumber the bad numbers.
Emma-bug had an appointment with the ophthalmologist today. It was confirmed that her eyesight is A-OK.
So that means that four of us have good eyesight, and only three have bad. Too bad the bad is so bad!
I don't think I mentioned before that Matthew's pressure is down to 22. Great news. His pressure was 48. I don't expect anyone who hasn't dealt with glaucoma to have any idea what any of this means, but it is great.
Things are going well in the health department. Praise the Lord!!
Because what it means is that the good eyes in this family still outnumber the bad numbers.
Emma-bug had an appointment with the ophthalmologist today. It was confirmed that her eyesight is A-OK.
So that means that four of us have good eyesight, and only three have bad. Too bad the bad is so bad!
I don't think I mentioned before that Matthew's pressure is down to 22. Great news. His pressure was 48. I don't expect anyone who hasn't dealt with glaucoma to have any idea what any of this means, but it is great.
Things are going well in the health department. Praise the Lord!!
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