What a Week!

Wow, what a week we've had. It continued to be pretty busy, and E has continued to poop blood. We were expecting to have to wait several weeks to get in to see the pediatric GI doc, but they "just happened" to have a cancellation on Friday, so we got her in then. Our poor baby has lost 4 pounds in the last week, and is hardly eating anything, yet all this blood just comes out of her. The GI doc seemed like he knew his stuff and was really great with E. He thinks it is either a virus/infection or that she has ulcerative colitis. We got labs back today (instead of next T/W, which is what we were anticipating) that said she is positive for inflammation, which doesn't tell us a lot, but it does mean that she doesn't have a hole anywhere in her gut that's bleeding. Her white blood cell count was up, so that means her body is fighting something. Now we just don't know what.

I was running the results past my dad (who is a FNP) and he started wondering if she'd been tested for ecoli yet. Turns out, she hasn't, and after talking to the GI doc, (who "just happened" to be on call today) I took her over to the urgent care clinic and left a sample to be tested. We don't know when those results will come back.

I never, ever thought that as a mother, I would be hoping my child had ecoli, but I kind of am, just because then she can take medicine and get better...and avoid a colonoscopy! I SO do not want to prep her for that - nasty stuff to drink and two adult enemas! This is the kid that fights me brushing her teeth!

Plus, having an infection or virus would mean it would be something that could be cured and go away - ulcerative colitis is a lifetime thing, and she's awfully young to have it.

I have pictures of her work in the toilet (that I took along to show the GI doc) but I don't think I'll post them? Yeah, never say I don't do favors for you!

Thanks so much for your support and prayers. This is such a hard time for her, and for us. Knowing we have prayerful cheerleaders makes such a big difference to us!

A Day In the Life

This blog serves as my one and only journal, so indulge me while I recall...

This is one crazy week. Let me share just one day to illustrate:

7 am - get up, get ready, get girls ready, etc. You know the morning routine.
Try not to freak out that E is still pooping blood. (are you sure you want to read this?)
9 - take M to school (this was not a kinder day for E, so she stays in her jammies 'cause she doesn't feel great anyway)
9:30 - go to RS Presidency mtg. Plug E into her portable DVD player
11:00 - mtg concludes. Swing by friend's house to drop off Christmas/New Years gift. Yeah, I'm that behind.
11:45 - arrive for E's dr appt. Dr orders more blood work and we get to take home another cup for a stool sample. She is NOT impressed with the idea of being poked and tried mightly to refuse, but I somehow lifted her up on the table and got her to lay down, then I practially laid on top of her. I wasn't mean...I kept trying to reassure her and give her kisses and stuff. *sigh* At least she got to leave with a dum dum sucker and a sticker, as well as a huge wad of cotton and a printed bandaid on her arm! Cool.
12:30 - stop at WalMart to buy her some more meds. Glance at the clearance toys, but they're not cheap enough, yet! ;)
1:00 - We're home! I make us some lunch and let her watch a movie (c'mon, she's sick) and then I get dinner (tacos) ready. I call my mom and whine. I mean, report.
3:25 - Leave to pick up M at school at 3:45.
3:45 - Grab kid, head to YMCA
4:15- Barely make it in time to have her switch into her swimming suit and join her new class
4:45 - Lesson is done, quick shower, change, and then
5:00 - M has occupational therapy for an hour
(during her lesson and therapy, I read to E - alot! She wound up with 75 min of reading minutes on her log! We also played a few rounds of our favorite game, "Hiss")
6:00 - Leave the therapy center, head for home
6:30 - arrive home, warm up taco meat, etc
6:40 - dinner on table
6:50 - I leave for the church. Gotta be there for Visiting Teaching Interviews. I'm the secretary, so I don't have to conduct the interviews, just keep 'em organized.
7:05 - Arrive, hang out with ladies that inspire me
8:50 - Get home, tuck girls & Paul into bed!
9-11:00 - Clean up, dishes, computer stuff...those hours just disappear!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Then, I wake up and do it all again today, except M just had speech therapy after school, and P just happened to get home as we were heading out so E got to stay home w/him.

(E's lab work came back fine - not anemic yet, and liver function is good. We took the frozen poop into the lab today and results won't come back til early next week. She is seeing a pediatric GI doc on Friday...)

Seeing Spots

Poor E!

She ran a fever on Tues and Weds and woke up this morning feeling a-ok and thrilled to go to school. As I was combing her hair, I noticed a big red spot on her cheek, and several on her neck, and more on her belly, and a few on her back... Dang it!

We dropped M off at school (w/E in tears 'cause she wanted to go, too, and 'cause the spots scared her) and went to the dr's office - with all the flooding, they had plenty of available appts.

One of the first things I said to the pediatrician (who isn't our reg doc) was, "She had a fever on T/W, but feels fine today, but then I noticed these spots and I wasn't sure if I should send her to school or not."

So, she examines her and concludes that it's either a case of break-thru chicken pox (she's had both her vaccinations) or it's from a virus that caused the fever and then spots. She then said, "So, if she feels up to it, she can totally go to school."

I said, "Oh! So, she's not contagious?"

"No, not really. I mean, she IS contagious, but it's only transmitted in the air, so only if she sneezes or something..."

Are you KIDDING me?! Doc, this is KINDERGARTEN! Everything is airborne! Good grief. So, needless to say, E got another day at home, and is planning to go back on Monday...when the spots are gone!

So, to the kids, parents, and teachers in E's kindergarten class: You're Welcome. Now, do the same for me and keep your kid home if they are at all possibly contagious!!!

Cousins!

Hide and Seek turned into just hide for ELR and EKJ!

M was excited to feed T, but he likes his food comin' fast, so daddy helped shovel it in, too.

W & EJR huggin'

EEJ and ELR havin' a picnic.

My parents have 8 grandchildren. M, age 9, is the oldest.

Then comes W & EKJ, who are both 6

Then our E, who is 5

Then EEJ and CDJ, who are 4 & 3

Then two baby boy cousins, who were both born in April!

When we're all together, the little girls sure have a good time!

M does her best to put up with it; sorry you don't have any cousins your age, sweetie.

Those uncles of yours should'a gotten married a little sooner, huh?!

Or, I guess we could've waited to have you...no way!

We waited long enough as it was!

Oh well, at least this way, you can always be Gramma & Grandpa's "#1 Grandchild!"

"Reunited, and It Feels So Good..."

OK, so maybe that's a creepy song to bring to mind in reference to my brothers? But "We Are Family" just doesn't work, 'cause I've never had, nor will I ever be able to sing, "I got all my sisters with me." (Not the blood-related kind, anyway

This is the first time in over 8 years that my entire "original" family has been all together in the same place. We've all seen each other, but at different times, largely b/c Bro #2 and his family have lived in UT, MD, and NY for undergrad/dental/pediatric dental school. We're so glad to have them back on the "right" coast now, as he now practices in OR! Bros #1 and 3 live about 20 minutes apart, and now the parents live about 45 min away from them, so it made getting together a whole lot easier.

In case you're guessing, yes, that first picture was taken in 1988!

Here we are, "just" 20 years later!

Visting the Grandparents

I haven't intentionally been a blogging slacker lately, but the computer keeps freezing up as I'm editing photos, or even just online, so it's really cramped my style, to say the least! I hope I can at least get a little bit posted tonight. Wish me luck!

My parents just moved to a new town, and the important thing is, it's closer to us, so the day after Christmas, we hopped in the minivan and drove the 3 hours to their new place. Ah, 3 is much better than 5.5, though in the dark and rain it still wasn't a joyride. But I digress...

The next day, we visited the best place to go when it's raining and windy: Marsh's Free Museum. Where else can you see a (taxidermied) 2 headed-cow while dancing to an old music machine, and then pose with Jake the Alligator Man?! The girls were especially interested in the long row of shells for sale.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook