While we were sick

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and acts of service towards our family this past couple weeks.  I have been overwhelmed by the outpour, and extremely grateful for the love we felt from all.  From the bottom of my heart...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Since Sunday, Caden has been doing great.  He has been able to keep everything he eats or drinks down!  His spunky personality is back.  He continues to improve, and although he thinks he is totally better...his body tells him otherwise.  He has ended up falling asleep by 5 or 5:30!  We went and saw the pediatrician on Tuesday, and she ordered another set of labs.   On Wednesday she called to let us know that his pancreatic enzyme levels had dropped down to 247!!! (They were nearing the 1200's when we were discharged from the hospital)  So we are so glad to see that things were finally going in the right direction. 

While we were sick...life still went on.  We spent alot of time trading off at the hospital, and trying to make sure our other 2 kiddos didn't feel neglected.  Sydney had her dance recital on Saturday (before we were in the hospital, but when Caden was still sick).  She has been taking lessons from Liz in our ward, and has been loving it!  It was so much fun to see her perform. 

Shawn, I and the 2 older kids were supposed to go to an evening showing of Annie at Broadway Palm, but it ended up being a Mommy & Syd date.  We had a great time.  Sydney really loves to sing, and loved watching the 'little' girls up there. 

On Monday (Dec. 13), Shawn worked from home so I could go in and help Sydney's class decorate gingerbread houses.  I love going to my kids classrooms.  I am thankful that I was still able to go.  We had such a fun time.

Shawn took the 2 younger ones to see our neighborhood Santa. 

Sydney had a stockpile of pictures and letters that she had written for Santa and was so excited to give them to him. 

Oh...and this is what happens when your husband dresses your kids. hahahaha

Thanks to Amazon, I was able to get most of my shopping done! I braved the crowds yesterday to get some last minute things, but I am thankful to say that we are ready! Wahoo!

I hope that your Christmas is filled with joy and no sickness!!!

We don't want to go fishing...

The night went well!  They finished out the TPN, and Caden was so excited when he woke up and was not 'hooked up' to anything. 

I was a little confused when I talked to the nurse to see when the results of the blood draw would be back.  She said that Dr. G hadn't ordered one.  I guess I just figured that they would want to see what eating food would do to his levels.  

When Dr. G came in he explained that he 'didn't want to go fishing for something he didn't want to find.'  Basically, Caden looked great (heck he was bouncing off the walls).  He couldn't be happier to be able to eat food, and drink.  The doctor said that it can take quite awhile for his enzyme levels to come down.  If we did a test and if the levels were higher, he would have to take a different action. Since he was able to keep everything down, and had no complaints of abdominal pain.....WE WOULD GET TO COME HOME!!

He still needed to talk to his G.I. contact, but if he agreed...then discharge orders would come.  So we took a little walk of the hospital, and tried to pass some time while waiting for the decision. We got back to our room, and then was invited to go decorate gingerbread houses.  While there Dr. G came and visited us.

He said that the other doctor agreed!  So we are home now!  We will see our regular pediatrician in a few days, and have to set up an appointment with a Gastrointestinal Dr. in a few weeks for some follow up labs.  We are so thankful to be home, yet at the same time I hope that he continues to improve.   I definitely don't want to see another hospital room for a while!

Thanks for your prayers, and thoughts of well wishes! 

"Spinning our Wheels"

So the last few days have brought alot of the same.

We continued with bowel rest. Which is supposed to make the pancreatic enzymes lower. Caden's did the opposite. Each day they would draw blood...and each day they got higher.

To kinda give you an idea. If you were to draw blood from a 'normal' person, their pancreatic enzymes would register anywhere from 10 to 140.

Caden's started at 990 then went down slightly to 914. They said if he had more bowel rest...then it should continue to decrease. Yesterday his levels were at 1143! They finally got the PICC line in, and my hopes were that this mornings results would have lower enzymes, but they didn't! It was very frustrating!

The doctor even made the comment that it felt like we were 'spinning our wheels.' I thought...You are telling me this!?? Ha! In any normal treatment for pancreatitis his levels should be coming down, but they weren't. He scheduled an ultrasound to make sure there wasn't a psuedocyst on his pancreas that was excreting fluid. The ultrasound came back clean (yay!), and since their current treatment wasn't working......

THEY LET HIM EAT FOOD!!!!!

I can't tell you how happy my boy was just to eat some jello, yogurt, and a scoop of mashed potatoes. I think the thing he loved the most was being able to drink GATORADE! I made the mistake of bringing one in on the first day we were here, and he had been asking for one since.

So far he has been able to keep everything down, and there have been no signs of abdominal pain...so that is a good sign.

They also are going to stop the TPN, and see how he does not being hooked up to anything. (Another yay!)

This day started out with nothing too promising, but ended with lots of good things. Now I am just holding my breath for the results after tomorrow mornings blood draw. I hope that all this 'good stuff' doesn't end up setting us back with even worse blood work!

Till tomorrow!

The Road to Recovery

I know some are wondering what on earth has been happening so here is the low down...

Sunday:  Took Caden to Phoenix Children's Urgent Care Facility.  They determined he had a case of gastroenuritis that hit him really hard.  They were surprised that his vitals were dbetter than he physically appeared.  He was given 1200 cc's of fluid.  He looked a little better after the fluids, but still was lethargic.  They sent us home, and said that if he didn't improve he should see his regular pediatrician.

Monday:  Things looked hopeful.  Caden got through the night without vomiting!  He was still really weak, but for once he was awake (he pretty much spent last Wed - Sunday sleeping), he would talk to me, and he seemed to be improving.  We had phone contact with his Dr., and she had me give him 15ml of water every 15 min to try to keep him hydrated.  He was able to keep that all down, and even had some tortilla chips & a roll without it coming back up.  The only problem was he was still really weak, and somewhat lethargic.  We kinda chalked it up to the fact that he hadn't eaten for over 5 days, and it was going to take some time to get his strength back.

Tuesday:  Another night of no vomiting (Yay!), but he still was super weak.  He actually wanted to have some of the toast that I had made for Sydney so I gave him a piece.  He only got through half of it again before he vomited.  I spoke with his Dr., and she wanted to see him herself because since he got sick she physically hadn't seen him (he was seen by a different doctor in the practice.)  So that afternoon I dropped Thomas off at Anna's, and arranged to have Sydney dropped off there when she was done with school.  Then we headed to the pediatrician.  When we got there she said that he was still dehydrated.  She wanted to rule out appendicitis so she sent us to the ER.  At the ER they ordered a full work up of tests.  After bloodwork came back he was admitted to the hospital.  His liver & pancreas enzymes were elevated.  They felt that it was still a bad stomach bug, but now was affecting his liver and pancreas.  He got an IV to keep him hydrated, and ordered a blood draw for the morning. 

Wednesday:  The morning brought on the needle so they could draw some blood for testing.  Test results showed that his liver enzymes had come down a little, but his pancreas enzymes were  rising.  He was ordered to be on bowel rest (no food or water) for 24 hours due to viral pancreatitis.  This day was just spent hanging out getting fluids, eating ice chips & sips of water.  There hope is that with no water or food it would help his pancreas lie dormant, and let the enzyme levels come down.

Thursday:  That brings us to today.  Blood was drawn in the early morning hours, and we waited for the results.  His pancreas has stablized, but it is still inflamed...in other words...his enzymes didn't get higher, but it didn't really get lower either.  His white blood cell count is really low, but the other concern is that there was a drop in his hemoglobin.  Right now they are going to keep an eye on it.  They are planning on inserting a PICC line to get him some nutrition since he hasn't been able to keep any solids down for about 8 days now.  They will be giving him something called TPN...which basically is a liquid that will give him all the nutrition that his body will need, but still allow bowel rest (nothing by mouth).  They are pretty much assuming that all of the different anamolies in his blood work are due to some sort of viral infection. 

I have learned there is so much truth to the phrase "PRACTICING Medicine."

Looks like we are going to be here atleast 2-3 more days.  I keep ya posted!

My Heart...

My Dear Caden,

My heart aches right now for you.  Late in the night on Tuesday you called for me.  You couldn't go back to sleep.  You didn't complain that you didn't feel well.  You just said that you woke up, and couldn't sleep again.  I being tired myself told you to keep trying, and if you needed to...read a book.  Then I went back to bed. 

When you woke up on Wednesday morning you complained that you were still sooo tired.  You said that you had woke up 2 times, and couldn't sleep....so I chalked up your sleepyness from that.  You got dressed for school, and then layed down on the couch.  I tended to Sydney helping her get ready for school, and when I turned around you were snoozing on the couch.

You didn't appear to have a fever, but we had misplaced the thermometer...so I can never be sure.  All I know is that you slept the ENTIRE day.  Late during the night you began to vomit with accompaning diarreaha.  Thursday continued with much the same.  You finally got up the gumption to try to eat some lunch on Thursday afternoon...only to have it come up within the hour.  The evening and bedtime hours brought much of the same.  It was as if I had a newborn, and was waking up every couple of hours...only I didn't get to nourish you.  Instead I had to watch my baby suffer.

Friday I was even more worried.  You hadn't eaten for 2 days.  I thought if I could just get you to eat some toast...maybe that would help.  You tried, but didn't even eat half of the bread before it came back up.  I called the doctor.  They looked at you.  She prescribed you some Zofran in hopes that you will stop vomiting.  Friday night brought even more wakings.  You are drinking alot, but still no food. 

It has now been 4 whole days, and we are working on our 5th.  Anything I give you won't stay down.  I just want my fun happy Caden back.  We are going to head to the hospital and see if they can figure out what it going on.  My heart can't take it any more. 

Love,
Mommy

Will we find out...???

It has been kinda strange thinking about the fact that in May I am going to be a mother of 4! FOUR!  I am excited for this little one to join our family.  Sydney, is probably the most excited out of all the kids.  Even months before we decided to have another child, Sydney started asking me when I was going to give her a sister.  We all kinda laughed, and I told her I didn't know...besides the fact that we can't choose whether we have a brother or a sister. 

After I had Thomas I had a really hard time losing the weight that I had gained with him.  Usually within the year I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight (although that is still a little more than where I want to be), but 18months later I still weighed exactly the same weight I did when I gave birth!  Needless to say it was a little depressing.  I was determined to lose the weight before I got pregnant again.  I did really well at first, and lost about 15-20 pounds, but still had about 5-10 that I still wanted to lose.  I kept telling myself that "Once I lost that weight...then I could get pregnant."  For months I was at a plateau, and wasn't losing or gaining any weight.  Around the summer time I started to feel like it was just 'time'...that if I waited to lose that weight...I may never do it.  One thing I knew is there was atleast one more left waiting to join our family, and I would rather he/she come earlier rather than later. 

In September we found out we were expecting.  Shawn was a little shocked, but is getting used to the idea.  Now we just get to wait.  As most of you know, with my last pregnancy we didn't find out what we were having.  I have to tell you...I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!  The problem is that it drove Shawn crazy.  The other issue that we have now is the fact that Sydney is determined that it is a girl...so if a baby brother is joining our family, our little girl is going to need some emotional prep time before the baby arrives.  So we came up with a comprimise that my cousin Lori did with her last pregnancy.  I feel it is perfect because I still get a fun 'surprise', but there is no waiting until the baby comes. Here are the details...

1.  We will be going in for our ultrasound on Monday, December 27th.  While there we will tell the tech that we don't want to know what the gender is, but to put the 'evidence' in an envelope.

2.  Said envelope will be given to my best friend Julie.  She will be the keeper of the secret by opening the envelope, and doing a little shopping for us.

3.  On the evening of the 27th...ALL Family & Friends are invited to our house at 6 pm for a potluck dinner of your favorite Soup or Salad. 

4.  After eating we will open the gift that Julie has given revealing either a BOY or GIRL outfit inside!

So mark your calendars, and let me know if you would like to come.  Really anyone is welcome...heck it is just a good excuse to get together, and catch up! 

It should be lots of fun...in the meantime I get to focus on my family, and the Christmas Season!  Still got some shopping to do!

Really...I am alive!

For the past few months Shawn has been asking if he could have the password to my blogger account so he could start posting on the blog.  Surprisingly he reads it regularly, and has missed reading our updates.  It hasn't been that I haven't WANTED to write...but it seems like I spend more time catching up on other peoples lives on blogs and Facebook.

When I first started this blog, I was so good at posting.  I always tried to post daily, and I loved it.  I love being able to look back and see everything that was going on at those times in my life.  That is why it makes me a little sad that I have done such a poor job over this past year.  Really it seems that since we added our little Thomas...who is not so little any more...it has been harder for me to keep up with posting. 

Another reason for my lack of posting, for those of you that aren't my friend on Facebook, is that we will be adding yet another addition to our family!!!  He/she will be arriving sometime in late May.  This pregnancy has been good by most standards, and I really hate to complain...but it also has been my worst.  I have had pretty much no desire to much of anything.  My poor family has suffered in the dinner department, and there are times that my house goes far too long without any attention.  I am about 16 weeks now so I am hoping to get back into my groove in many aspects of my life...including blogging!

I still want to record some of the different things that my family experienced over this past year so you may see different/old posts pop up from time to time documenting our adventures.  Hopefully I haven't lost all of my readers! ha!  Check back soon.  I am in the process of giving the blog a little 'facelift,' and also will be telling you about my upcoming ultrasound!