Monday, September 27, 2010

Today was better

Today was a much better day. Caileigh struggled with a fever and nausia all night, poor thing. I let her sleep next to me so I could hear her happenings. Her fever finally broke around 5am and she slept until 1030! I think her body really needed that.

She was pretty low key until her brother woke up this afternoon and it was like she hit a whole new high! She was so hard to keep toned down and on the couch or in bed. I kept trying to remind and coax her into calming down but she has missed her brother so much and he so wanted her to play with him.

We had dinner and....you guessed it, the tummy aches came back and a slight fever too. I bathed her to cool her body down and put her to bed; which she was more than obliged to listen. Here's hoping that the bath did the trick and she sleeps peacefully through the night. I hope we are on the mend and it's only up from here. :)

In other news, I put her to bed and tried to give Braedon some quality snuggle time. He loves to rock and have me sing to him before he lays down. On the way to his room I thought he grabbed his milk cup on the table as he walked through. It was a waxed birthday candle instead. He had taken a huge chunk out of it....so to the poison control number I went and laughed about his attempt to give me a nervous breakdown. She assured me it is ok, not to worry and to just give him extra water.

There is never a dull moment in out house! So glad she is getting better, thank you everyone for your prayers. I know the extra thoughts going up has helped her to heal!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Catch up and apologies

Wow, I cannot believe it has been over a month since I have posted....I am sorry. So much has been going on that I have not even had the energy.

Quick recap: in the last month my Mom has had 2 possible TIA's, we are waiting for MRI results. We bought a house on the 18th of August and have been working night and day to tear out the old carpeting (32 years old) and replace it with wood floors ourselves in order to try and make it as clean for Braedon as possible.

Two weeks ago I gave myself a serious concussion while trying to build a fence on our property. I am scheduled for an MRI this week since my dizziness and nausea has not gone away yet.  My mom went from being the one cared for to caring for me since Soapy is gone. I have not felt comfortable driving until recently and even now I don't go very far.

A week ago, Braedon had a pretty good outbreak with his digestive stuff. It's the first real bad one since June. We meet with his allergist this Wednesday and we are hoping to hear about test results soon from the genetics lab at Children's.

This past Wednesday Caileigh came home complaining of a headache. That night at Awanas she burst into tears and grabbed her head with sudden pain. We went home where she soon after began vomiting and running a high fever. Twelve hours later she was complaining of a stiff neck so we headed to the doctors. They tested her visually and decided to send her home and treat for a sinus infection. Thursday night we were back at the hospital doing a spinal tap and taking blood tests. Her tests showed Meningitis! We have been at the hospital doing IV fluids and antibiotics ever since...up until last night. Saturday night the vein collapsed and we had to restart her IV. Normally this wouldn't be anything big except her veins are extremely hard to find. We worked on it from 6:30 pm until midnight with no luck. They called in the ICU nurses, NICU, flight for life EMTs and anesthesia to try. NO ONE could get it in. They decided to stop as it was not working and she was in hysterics by then. The decided to wait until this morning to make a decision.

So far there are no growths in her cultures which is GREAT! That means she most likely has a viral form of meningitis. She could have caught any virus and her body mutated it thus giving her meningitis. It is NOT the meningitis that is contagious but the virus that is. It could simply leave someone feeling yucky, tired may be a slight fever but would be gone a few days later. She was not so lucky and her doctor said he only sees maybe one or two cases a year of meningitis. He was so excellent. He was on call the night she came in and he met us at the hospital to see her for himself. He has been on call all weekend and has come to check on her several times.

After talking with him this morning and observing Caileigh, he decided to send us home....with strict rules. She is NOT to leave the house. We are NOT to let anyone new in to the house until after the cultures are finished. While he is fairly certain it is just viral, as the cultures so far are clean; it is not unheard of to see something pop up the last day of observation. We don't want to infect anyone else. Since they tried the IV again this morning and still cannot get it, the next option would be to sedate her completely. That is very invasive since so far there is no bacteria to require the antibiotics. He has decided to leave them off until something is found otherwise. Since there is nothing hooked up to her, they sent her home as they are not doing anything for her right now but watching her. We can do that from home. If anything gets worse we are to come straight back.

Right after we got home she got extremely nauseous which scared me and she was very weak but she never vomited. I have her in bed sleeping. I am praying that all it was, was over stimulation from getting out to the car and driving home and the adrenaline of excitement of being home. She has really missed her brother and he has missed her too.

I am going to go take a quick nap before either of them wakes but will post some really cute pictures of them tonight once they are back in bed and asleep. Thank you EVERYONE for your prayers and well wishes. There are so many of you that I don't even know but I am grateful for all the prayers. I told her today, "Caileigh there are so many people sending up prayers for you that I think God decided to make you well enough to go home so He can think straight!" She laughed and thought that was pretty cool, she also is in awe of how many people from all over the world are now prayer for her.

To our family and close friends, thank you for stepping up and helping with Braedon, coming to the hospital when I needed help and strength. Thank you for your prayers for Caileigh and for me.

To all of you who just happened to read about our struggles this week, thank you for caring enough to follow along and pray for her. It's so hard sometimes to be here caring for these two babies of mine when Soapy is gone. I am so lucky to have friends and parents close and a God who is AMAZING!

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. that the cultures would remain clear and we don't have to return for more iv's
2. that Caileigh continues to mend and the rest of us don't end up sick with the virus she had
3. that Braedon stays healthy this week because Mama is T.I.R.E.D!
4.continued prayers for Braedon and that the doctors at Children's Hospital in Denver can stumble upon what God wants them to see. That He is able to provide them with the wisdom to a diagnosis and a cure for him.

Thanks so much and have a blessed weekend!