Recovering

We're out of the hospital, but not out of the woods...

Morgan seems to be making the best progress.  Still lots of nose-blowing and a little coughing, but no fever, aches, or nausea.  She slept well last night, which is the best news any of us can have right now.
Ryan slept last night, too, which is great.  He was up all night with Athan night before last (at the ER, then at home), on top of being sick himself.  I'm slowly improving.  I was up with Athan quite a bit last night, so a nap will be necessary today for sure.  But I'm don't have a fever or nausea at all, my sinuses are clearer, and my cough seems more effective.

As is always the case, Athan has the worst of it.  His body just does not fight off infection effectively.  Our pediatrician met Ryan up at his office yesterday (yes on Christmas day), and gave Athan a pair of intramuscular injections because of the severity of his double-ear infection.  They just walked out the door to go back up there and get another shot.  Because of his low muscle tone, Athan doesn't cough effectively, so he's not clearing up much.  He asked me to help him blow his nose about every 6 minutes last night from midnight to 4a.  I suspect, with all that's going on, he has a fairly constant headache.  He can't sleep, which delays healing and makes him unable to cope well emotionally. 

Grammy Tammy is here to help!  Yay!  I've asked her to let us keep taking care of the kids so she doesn't get sick, too.  She's restored some order tot he chaos of our house!  She did dishes and cleaned out and organized my fridge.  She gathered, sorted, laundered, and folded laundry.  She jumped in and helped with Athan a bit when his 3-day-whine was more than Mom or Dad could take for a minute. 

Also, our many thanks to the outpouring of food and prayers and offers to help.  Thanks to Liz, Kathryn, and Melissa for bringing yummy food so we didn't have to cook or shop.  Thanks to our kind neighbor Doris for driving me to the ER when I didn't feel safe driving myself, and for taking Morgan back home so she didn't have to hang out at the hospital.  Thanks to Layne and Laurie for coming to get Morgan and spending the night with her in a hotel while Athan and I were in the ER, and Ryan was busy caring for us.  And many thanks for all the prayers and kind words offered via Facebook, comments here, and texts.  We are buoyed by your kindnesses, all.

Home

We all 3 made it home. Now to watch Athan closely through these last hours of the night.

Thanks again to all.

Waiting and resting

After more and directed fluids, they are waiting to see how athan's SI responds. If everything looks good in a while, they might discharge him.

Amberly is resting too. Probably discharge her pending a little more time. The cough is still rough.

Christmas Eve in the ER

Long story short: we brought Athan into the ER due to acute stomach pain (we knew it was serious because Athan was screaming, which doesn't happen (I remember one other time)).
After X-rays and a CT scan, they have decided the obstruction in small intestine is due to an ileus.

While we await the next step, the boy is sleeping soundly.

Part B of our evening: Amberly also had to be admitted due to flu symptoms and vomiting. She could not stop coughing nor keep anything down.
She's resting as well, but still very uncomfortable.

Thank you for your prayers on both counts. And thanks to the elmwood west crew for celebrating the nativity of Christ in our absence. And to Neighbors and L&L for taking care of Morgan this evening. There are more thank you's, but have to cut this post short.

Cardio

Just finished echo and EKG.
Athan really handled both well this time.
Now we're waiting to hear from dr hackman.

Real rest

Snoring on Mama's lap is good

Home again, home again...

Athan's home and relaxing in the bathtub. :)

He is out of the danger zone.  His sugars are really high now, thanks to lots of extra Cortef in his system.  He's safe, but he's going to feel rotten and weird until we step back down to normal dose.  Might be a long night ahead.  When he has all the extra steroids, he seems to be a little restless, jittery, and emotionally extra volatile. But he feels better, and these are signs he's on the mend, so I'll take it!

Many, many thanks, again, for all your prayers for our boy.

Moving Forward

Dr Wiley evaluated Athan once we got up to our room. Since athan is feeling better and has an appetite we'll try some basic food. If he can keep that down and his glucose levels remain stable, he'll send us home tonight.
Thanks for your prayers - this guy is a trooper.

Better

Sugars up and holding. Meds in. Stats good. Out of ER and in a room on pediatric floor. Waiting on visit from pediatrician while watching Toy Story 2.

Adrenal crisis again

Athan woke up not feeling well and with a scary low blood sugar. We couldn't get him to rebound at home, and had to bring him in to the ER. After a couple tries we finally got an IV run and glucose in his system. His sugars are up, and we are getting his adrenal support meds now. Thanks for praying us through another round.

Couldn't have gone better!

Cardio follow up today was really good. Maybe because it was his birthday, Athan was in a great mood. Instead of tears and fear about the Echo or EKG, he giggled about all the "stickers" and told the nurse "thanks for listening to my heart." Super charming all morning long.

The report: blood cultures were clean (=no more ibuprofen), no fluid around his heart (=no more LASIK), incision site looks great (=no more steri strips), and no leakage in the valve (=no more surgeries).

= hallelujah!!! :)

fever still

Athan's fever persists.  Blech.

Ryan took him up to Hendrick to draw blood this morning.

Now we just give lots of Motrin and wait. :)  

Thanks, all, for sticking with us in prayer.