Shelby, sick? And the update...

Update 2/27 10:45 p.m.: Labs are a bit better today. Her counts are moving in the right direction, with the exception of her AST, ALT and Alk Phos. Those are all slighter higher. ??? I don't know; Dr. Deutsch's office didn't call today so they must not have been too impressed with her labs. She's feeling fine. Let's keep it that way.

Update 2/27, 10 a.m.: Dr. Deutsch DID agree that a lot of her labs were "off" and most likely a lab error, but did not want to commit to an admit w/her liver numbers looking pretty stable. Once he admits her its pretty much at least 48 hours on IV antibiotics while waiting on blood culture results. She's looks fantastic, but she had labs this morning just to make sure they're moving back in the right direction. She's at school (yea!) and I'll update again after we get lab results this afternoon.

We've all had some form of the stomach flu in the past week. Avery was throwing up and, we'll, the rest of us, you can fill in the blank. Everyone except Shelby had caught it....that is, until Wednesday. She woke up saying her tummy hurt and just sat at breakfast. When I felt her forehead I knew there was trouble. I just watched her for a while, then her fever just kept going up. It was just under 103 when I called the Pediatrician and asked if he just wanted labs run (Shelby has standing orders) or the complete work-up at the ER. He voted for the latter. Shelby and I spend about 4-5 hours in the ER Wednesday and it was determined that her labs were stable so she was sent home with orders for the labs to be repeated the next day. This did not sit well with me. Several of her labs were "off." They were actually in the normal range, but a far cry from her "norm." I know that sounds confusing, but there was such a discrepancy that I cannot believe that her doctor did not want to investigate further.

She is feeling better. The fever broke Wednesday evening and her tummy pain disappeared w/no vomiting or diarrhea; in fact, she was hungry all day Wednesday! Yesterday's labs looked horrible (but much more like her "normal" when she is ill) so her GI wants to see her today. Our appointment is in a few hours, so I'll update later today. She is neutropenic (again) so I don't know when we'll be able to send her back to germ-land, a.k.a. school. Sigh...

Ironing & "crack"

I found this on clearance at Wal-Mart in an effort to keep Avery out of our ironing board (see in background). Scott would do a bunch of ironing and she would try to crawl through the legs of the ironing board. NOT very helpful (or safe)! She got up the other morning, paci still in, (Packer) blankie in hand and started "ironing" her new little Mexican dress from Grandma Nea & Grandpa DD. Cute, huh?!?! See Riley in the background, too. That's how you can find her most days. She DEVOURS books. By the way, check this out - Riley's performance at the Variety Show. Isn't she awesome?!!!!!!!

Crack...yes, Scott and I joke if we really like something (like my cup of coffee in the a.m., or my Diet Coke) that its "crack," or in other words, very addicting. My new "crack" is crocheting. Thanks Riley and Mom and Carolyn. I'll never be the same. ;~)

Check out this great ministry and please, please keep all the sick kiddies in the world in your prayers. Hold them close and lift them up often.

Cute stuff!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Fourteen, I mean 9-year-old Riley, all ready for her school's variety show. She rocked the house with two solos. If I ever get the correct cord, I'll download the video.

Our toothless wonder. This is just a precious face - I love it! Losing her tooth was no easy task for her as she hates losing teeth. Period. Plain and simple. It came out while she was brushing her teeth Thursday morning and there was MUCH blood involved. I've never seen a kid bleed so much when they lose a tooth. (Liver parents out there, be reassured that her clotting time IS normal.) Once we cleaned her and the bathroom up she was very relieved that it was all done and over with. Me too. :) Also, amazingly enough, she is even more energetic since we've completely removed dairy from her diet. Could it have been that she was not feeling well from the dairy, but compensating quite good? Me thinks so.

What can I say?!?!? She loved her Daddy's homemade spaghetti sauce and ate 3 platefuls of it. This is her saying "Cheese." What a kid! Straight to the bathtub she went after this meal. By the way, she does attempt to use utensils. The fork just happens to be in her other hand!

ENJOY!!!

Osteoporosis on its way out the door!

On Wednesday Shelby received a GREAT report from the Nephrologist, Dr. Langman (a bone & mineral expert), who handles her Osteoporosis. From her most recent DEXA scan, her bone density is ABOVE average for her age!!! This is the same child who's bones were so thin 4 years ago that they could hardly see them on x-rays! Whoohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The plan is to reduce her Fosamax from once weekly to twice a month for the next 6 months; then, the 6 months after that, no Fosamax. In one year, they'll repeat the DEXA just to make sure her bone density is holding its own. Dr. Langman has no reason to believe she'll need to go back on the Fosamax; in fact, he's very optimisic about her situation. So are we :-)