Ultrasound fine

Nothing new on the ultrasound. Just the same old junk - cysts, mass - but they look the same as before. No ascites, either. Interesting as we were initially told that the ascites remain unless it is being treated. She has a cold and a pretty raw nose from blowing it so much, but no tummy pain. She is having diarrhea, but that's not too huge of a deal for her. We do not have to take her in unless her fever gets to 101. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Thank you for keeping her in your prayers.

Monday

4:35 p.m.
Dr. Deutsch ordered an ultrasound of her abdomen. She'll have that Wednesday morning. Her fever is on-and-off and we are just to watch it. That's all I know for now. Please pray that her fever stays away and she doesn't worsen.


11:33 a.m.
We woke up around 9:30 only to have Shelby's first words be "Mom, my tummy hurts." She is just laying around playing on her DS, but when I came out of the shower she was all curled up in the chair. She is now in my bed w/her DS. She has a temp of 100 and an appointment with her GI, Dr. Deutsch, at 1:30 today. Will she be admitted? I'm taking my bags just in case...

I had plenty of time while waiting in the ER last night to organize our family Xmas pics. Enjoy!

Martin Xmas

Hardwick Xmas

What the heck?!?!

1:57 a.m.
HOME!!! Labs looked stable. HOME, HOME, HOME. Night, night.

10:56 p.m.
In the ER. Had Xmas @ my Mom's today. For about 3-4 days Shelby's tummy has been giving her trouble. Today she had a temp of 101. She just stayed in my parent's bedroom the whole xmas get-together. She ate - that was good. We got ready to head home and her temp was back. We called the on-call GI and she said to get her looked at. Blood, pee and poop are all being checked. She isn't miserable (thank God), but isn't "right." Avery did puke yesterday morning and not feel well most of the day, but I don't think this has anything to do with it. I'll update when we know test results, but the GI said on the phone we're probably going to keep her on IV antibiotics until we know what or what is not going on. Just the way we wanted to spend xmas break ;-(

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to all!

December

THANK YOU "Santa"

Santa,
I sure hope you read my blog. My girls are thrilled with their early Christmas present. Thank you - what a wonderful and much appreciated gesture.


Please follow the link on the right to Emerson's blog. She is very sick right now and her and her family could use some prayers. Thank you.

Update #3

I am beat and the trip has not quite sunk all in yet so the update will have to wait a few days. Here are the remainder of the pictures we took, though. Mind you, there are 124 pictures that were taken by the Disney photographers plus a CD from Give The Kids The World.

Make A Wish trip 3

Home

We arrived home around 1 a.m. Our flight was delayed about an hour and all five of us passed out in the limo. An update is to come, but not right now. I have to head to work soon. Just wanted to let you all know we made it home o.k.

Update #2

My laptop battery is about dead. Enjoy the pics!

Make A Wish trip 2

1st Make-A-Wish Update

So, high hopes I had of updating every day! Here I go bringing you up-to-date...Scott and I finally went to sleep around Midnight and then woke up about 2:30 a.m. Friday. The limo was there promptly at 4 a.m. The girls were psyched! They chit-chatted, giggled and were just generally thrilled to be in that limosine! I was tired and so was Daddy, but the girls weren't having it. We moved well through the airport despite forgetting a bag (with B.O.B. in it!) at the curb. The bag was retrived and we checked in and made it through security quite smoothly. Shelby was a bit afraid to pass through the "x-ray" machine, but went willingly once she saw me and Avery do it. We did get "hassled" quite a bit wearing so many Green Bay Packers sweatshirts. My flying (I've never flown before) nerves kicked in once we were waiting to board. Shelby was a bit nervous when we got on the plane - too many people and too close together for her - but calmed down once the plane started moving. Of course, that's about the time I closed my eyes and starting squeezing her little hand. She was a trooper letting me squeeze so hard and for so long. Avery (thank goodness) decided at that point to pass out. Literally, slumped over in the chair - FOR THE ENTIRE FLIGHT! How lucky is that?!?! We can't be that lucky on the way home...Anyway, landing in Orlando was much better than taking off from Midway (in my opinion), but the entire ride was too bumpy for my liking. Yuck - not a big flying fan. We made it through the Orlando airport pretty good, except for Avery starting to meltdown. When we were getting our luggage, she decided to play on another conveyor belt - thank goodness it wasn't running, but she did exert much of her 2 1/2-year-old "independence" when we pulled her off. The ride to Give The Kids The World (GTKTW) went fine and we got checked in to our villa. We played on the huge Candyland playground where we will participate in a life-size game tomorrow night. Tonight was Mayor Clayton's (of GTKTW) birthday party and last night there was a party, too. Every night there is something going on here! Today, we went to Sea World. Shamu's show was AMAZING! The girls went on lots of fun rides (even Avery) and kept us busy. They had so much fun! Right now they are back at our villa with Scott while I'm doing my internet stuff. No internet connection in our villa - that's probably a good thing b/c an internet vacation is not the worst thing in the world. Anyway, its off to Epcot we go tomorrow. My Aunt (and Uncle? and cousin?) will be joining us. Thank you every one for the prayers that got us down here. Shelby has been feeling fine. Enjoy the pictures!

Make A Wish trip

CRAP!!!

10:19 p.m.
Labs look o.k. WBC is up a bit (good); ANC fell some (bad). Just checked her temp - its normal. Looks like all is a go if we can make it through the next 6 hours.
8:23 p.m.
Shelby has a temp of 100.8. Seriously. She had her 2nd H1N1 vaccination late this afternoon - could it be from that? I paged Dr. Deutsch and he called back in no time. He ordered labs stat at the clinic right by us. We're back home; Shelby's in bed. Now we wait to hear from him...the limo is supposed to arrive @ 4 a.m. Stressed? Yea, you could say that. Please, please pray.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Little Avery, Avery, Avery...

So she puked 2 nights, gave us a night off and then tonight dropped a diaper bomb. There's not enough air freshener in this house! Every time Scott sprays it she yells "P.u." Sorry, my brain is too tired to think of another way to spell it. She's been grumpy since she got out of the tub tonight and has been yelling at us. She thinks if we don't give her the answer she wants, it must be b/c we can't hear her so she YELLS it at us. No, Avery, we're not deaf; you're just not getting your way. She's busy next to me drawing - mind you, she's 2 1/2 and its 10:53 p.m. We have a problem here. Please GI bug or whatever you are - GO AWAY!!!

Isn't this awesome how she drew the big circle and then all the other little circles around it? That's my 2 1/2-year-old genius!

Today's labs

Well, Shelby's ANC crept up a bit. Its now at 570. Still too low for Scott and I to feel comfortable with sending her off to school. Her WBC actually fell slightly to 1.9. Avery puked again early this a.m. - fun! NOT! Shelby's Wish Granter, Ann, came over this afternoon and brought each girl a backpack full of goodies and Shelby her "princess" dress. We are all set! The packing is in full swing. If you come over, you are very likely to trip over a suitcase. Now just getting Scott through his final on Tuesday, me all set with work this week and getting everything lined up for next week, and, of course, keeping Shelby healthy. I'm sure Dr. Deutsch will want to give her the once-over before we leave and draw labs again. Please, please, pray for HEALTH. Thank you.

Nice to be home :-)

Yes, it is except for when your 2 1/2-year-old starts barfing in the night...then, its not so much fun. Luckily she only did it 2 times, but several towels and clothing changes were involved. This morning she woke up with a smile and said "I hunge." (That's "I'm hungry" for those of you who do not understand toddler-speak.) At this exact moment, everyone seems to be doing fine. Labs in the morning for Shelby so please pray that they look decent. Thanks.

Bustin' Out

10:42 a.m.
Her labs look decent so we're outta here! Her ANC is 500 so she's not going anywhere but home and we're to follow-up with labs on Sunday. Her tummy looks fabulous! I am convinced that the fluctuation in her tummy size was her ascites, but who I am, but the Mommy who knows her best?!?!? Anywhoo....it is just about back to normal and not bothering her. We'll take that. Now to stay healthy for her trip...

Thursday

9:48 a.m.
Labs came back today stinky! ANC was up (good) yesterday, but has taken quite the drop (bad) today. Its 294. Also her blood sugar is high (bad). She's never had a problem with that before so they're watching it closely. It was 244 first thing this morning and 143 when they just did a finger poke. They'll re-check it again later today. Her tummy size & distention is a bit better. She weighs now 3.3 lbs less than she did Monday night, but her abdomen still measures 3 cm larger than her "norm." She is in at least until tomorrow. They'll re-draw labs then and see if they have improved. If not, she may be re-started on the IV antibiotics b/c infection can be really sneaky when you are neutropenic.

I haven't talked much about it here lately, but we are to leave in 8 days for Shelby's Make A Wish trip to Disney. Please pray that she gets "fixed up" to be able to go on her trip and be healthy!

Wednesday

8:38 p.m.
Tests showed nothing. No stool, no gas, no additional ascites....what is causing this? Labs will be run again in the morning and we'll see what her abdomen looks like then.

7:07 p.m.
I came in this afternoon to bring her clothes to come home. The paperwork was all set and ready. Then I helped her change her clothes. Her tummy is HUGE again! A stat ultrasound and x-ray were ordered, but I have not heard the results yet. We are in for another night.

Tuesday

Tuesday belly

2:37 p.m.
Once all the excitement of last night calmed down, she (and I) slept like a rock. Not once did she wake. Good; she needed that. This morning her face and tummy looked a bit less swollen. It went from her weight/girth to being: Sunday 33 kg/72 cm, last night 34.2 kg/77 cm and this morning 33.9 kg/74 cm. Remember, 1 kilo=2.2 lbs. So that's been quite a flux for a little girl! Her ANC is dropping, though, so we have to wait for that to start showing improvement before she can bust out. Tomorrow morning would be the earliest, I think. Off for a super quick nap.