Thankful...

As everyone else is, today we are thankful. There is so much to be thankful for in our lives. First, we have a loving, merciful, faithful God! If I had nothing else, that would be sufficient. On top of this, I have a wonderful & loving husband, and two beautiful daughters!

This morning, as we were getting ready to go to our traditional family gathering, I found myself watching Vaeh - in wonder and amazement. She has come from death's doorstep, & now is an eating, breathing, walking miracle! She is a testament to God every second she is here! Its so hard to look at her little mouth stuffed full of goodies, & remember that just a few short months ago she didn't eat anything by mouth at all!

We have a wonderful family (both here & in blogger-land!) that we are blessed to have in our lives. We are so thankful for each & every one of you! This journey is that much easier because of all of you! So, to all our friends & family, we want you to know that we are so thanful for each of you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!


PS - On a side note... Congratulations to Andy, Krista & Seth Layman! Krista announced on her blog today that their family is growing!

Let's Go Blue!!

Our li'l Wolverine!
Put me in, Coach! I'm ready to play!

Its game day for the big rivalry here in Ohio, but in this house we say "Lets Go Blue!" Despite being born & raised in Ohio, I've been a Michigan fan for many years. It all started back when my brother went to wrestling camp at the U of M. Ever since then I've rooted for Michigan.

So it was just icing on the cake when they told us that the best place for Vaeh to go for treatment was to the University of Michigan. I promise - it had nothing to do with my being a Michigan fan. Had they said go to Columbus we'd have taken her there.

So, our little Miss V is all decked out in her maize & blue today, despite the worst record in school history this season for the Wolverines. We always tell everyone that Vaeh's heart belongs to Michigan - literally!

Let's Go Blue! (even though we know its a long shot:0)

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

This was the scene outside our door earlier today! Our first cumulative snow fall!! I just love it - but only for a short time:0) This, coupled with the new look & sound of Vaeh's blog really makes it seem like Christmas time! It was such a pretty snow... with the big white flakes that just seem to float down to the ground. And it has stayed with us. Its not one of those coat the ground & then melt away. No, this one is hanging on for a while! Makes me want to snuggle down with a cup of hot cocoa & listen to Christmas music! Oh, I just love this time of year!!

Getting started early!

Yes, I know that its like 40 days until Christmas but I couldn't help myself! I just love this time of year & I couldn't wait any longer to change the background. Or for that matter, to put up a new playlist! These are just some of the yearly Christmas songs that I love (btw - the "Blue Christmas" is one that Jon loves! He searches for it every year!)

I hope you all enjoy the change in music... I promise I'll change it back after the Christmas season passes. I just don't think that the Christmas season lasts long enough! Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Getting there...

Waiting for Dr. McNeal to come in.

How do I get the wrapper off here?

Vaeh is really starting to feel better I think. She even wanted a sucker while waiting at the pedi's office. Her appetite has started to pick back up & she's drinking like a fish again. Today was her last round of this nasty stuff...

She's been getting two shots in each leg every day since Monday. On Sunday, it was two shots TWICE! Her poor little legs look like pin cushions! At least they did mix the drug with lidocaine which I think helped! As of this evening we don't have to have any more shots! When we saw Dr. McNeal today, she switched her to omnicef. Thank heaven!

As I mentioned in my last post, she saw Dr. Butto (her card) on Monday & he said that she'd be having a CTA (CT of the arteries in her chest) followed by her cath/angio. Well, the nurse from his main office called on Tuesday & said they had scheduled her CTA for Dec 9th. Well, I don't think I'll be quite up to an hour & a half drive just 5 days after my surgery, so she rescheduled that for Dec. 17th. Then while we were at the pedi's office today, Jon said they called again. This time was to say they had her cath scheduled for Dec. 8th! What?!?! If I can't make the CTA, I don't think a cath is going to make a difference. Besides the fact that she has to have the CTA before the cath. So, the nurse apologized & said that they would have to schedule the cath for sometime in January. What a crazy winter we're going to have. (We have a wedding in the family in January, too!)

So, Vaeh is close to being back to the normal "Miss V." Hopefully the CTA & cath/angio will go off without a hitch. We didn't discuss the button on Monday, but based on her weight today at the pedi's it shouldn't be an issue - she was 26.6 lbs!! That's my girl! Hope everyone else is well!

We're home... again!

Seems like I've posted this before! (lol) Miss V is doing much better, thanks to all of the prayers going up I'm sure! At least this time we were pretty close to home, like Jon mentioned. Sorry about the comments not being there on his post, for some reason we have to go in & check allow comments & he must not have known!

Well, she did have another pneumonia. This time it was the right lower lobe. This one was really tricky to find. She didn't have any wheezing/ rhales when listening with a stethoscope & her sats were perfect (100%)! They even did a straight cath to check for a UTI which was negative. It wasn't until the chest x-ray that my thoughts from her initial visit with the pedi were confirmed. I think I'm going to ask them for a standing CXR order!

Her white cell count did come back at 47,000 on Saturday, but as of this morning's blood draw it was down to 19,500! I felt soooo bad for my little precious:0( They stuck her twice & couldn't get a line in, so they decided to give her the rocephin IM, meaning a shot every 12 hours to give her the meds. And of course due to "hospital policy" they had to give her TWO injections each time they dosed her!!! That became an issue for me! The first dose was given in one injection without problem & then they decided to change it! WHAT?!?! I asked the nurse if the reason was simply to charge for two vs. one injection! (I worked at this hospital for 8 years, so I know how there "policies" go!)

So, after having home injections set up until Wednesday when she sees the pedi again, we went over for her appointment with Dr. Butto (her cardiologist). He said she looked great, especially for having a pneumonia! We're going for a CTA (CT scan of the arteries in her chest) & cath/ angio most likely in December (depending on my post op recovery & the doc's schedule!) He said it wouldn't be in November because of scheduling & he wanted to give her a rest to heal up from this bout! He didn't seem too convinced that she would come off the O2 after the cath? So, if you would all keep Vaeh in your prayers a little extra until after the cath, that she is able to come off that nasty stuff! That's what we're praying for!

So, we go back in for a follow up this Wednesday & hopefully can switch to an oral antibiotic! Maybe we'll have a hospital free holiday for Vaeh?! Thanks for checking in on us! I'll let you all know the dates for the cath, etc., when I get them!

Here we go again.

Hey everybody, Jon here, just wanted to give you an update on little miss V. After Tina's last post, Vaeh spiked a fever again, so she called the doc and they said to bring her into the clinic. She went in, they ran some tests, ruled out uti, blood work came back not good. Her white bloodcell count was, I think 47,000 so guess what! Yep, they admitted her, Tina is at the hospital with her, I just got into town about 9:30 pm from New Jersey on my way to Milwaukee, WI., so I figured I would let everyone know since Tina can't. They did some more tests today and the pnuemonia is back. I think Tina said upper right lobe, so she will be in the hospital for a few days, at least she is in Lima, (30 min. away) and not back in Toledo(1 1/2 hrs away)! Tina said Miss V is resting ok tonight, and we will see how things go! Please keep them both in your prayers, and Tina will post more later.

Jon

On the mend...

Well, I think she's finally on her way to getting better. Last night was the first night since Tuesday night that she would sleep in her bed! Which means that Momma got to sleep in HER bed - woohoo! I've never appreciated a mattress more (lol)!

She's still not near her normal, but this morning when she woke up her temp only read 97.3 on the thermometer! Up until this morning I couldn't get her below 100! I tried tylenol with a cool bath & that didn't even bring her temp down. So, the best Mawmaw in the world picked us up some motrin & tylenol (I was getting low, imagine that - ha!) & we did the motrin. After a bath she really perked up for about a half hour then wanted to rock-a-bye. By 11 PM I had them both in bed!

So, that's the update on little Miss V! Hope everyone else is staying healthy! We'll have to see what our date with Dr. Butto (Vaeh's card.) brings on Monday! Hopefully some good news about saying goodbye to an unwanted friend, or 2!

Its back... :0(

Yep, that's right. We had to bring that nasty feeding pump back out today. Miss V decided yesterday morning to spike a temp & throw up all over Mommy. So we headed up to visit with our pedi, who said she looked just fine (ie: lungs, etc.) & that it must be a viral thing. She still wasn't able to keep much down last night, including water:0(

What did this mean last night? Very little sleep! I wasn't able to put Vaeh down until midnight, & she had me back up by 2 AM. So, we camped out in the living room & I was finally able to actually lie down by 7 AM. Then around 9 AM, the girls were both up & we had breakfast. Miss V actually was able to keep some toast down & wasn't feverish - yet. Then it started around 11:30. The temp was back, along with the vomiting:0( I can't get her temp to break, as you can see...

while I was posting this, she was running 104.0 & that's axillary!! So because I haven't been able to get her temp down consistently I put her on a pedialyte pump to get some fluids in her, hoping that her temp will break?! Otherwise we may be headed in... nope. I'm not going to 'say' it.

So, send up an extra prayer for little Miss V today... I want my happy 'non-tube fed' girl back!!

Unbelievable?!

It sounds crazy to think, & I personally didn't think we'd ever see it again. The price of gas is BELOW $2 per gallon! It dropped there earlier this week in Lima (about 20 minutes north of here) & the day before yesterday dropped to $1.97 here in town! Its just sooo funny remembering how 'awful' it was when it neared $2 per gallon originally, & now we're glad to see it back down to that! Isn't our economy amazing?! (lol)

On another note, my surgery is scheduled for December 4th. I'll have to be admitted post op for 2 to 3 days, & then I'll be able to come home! I'm having mixed emotions about it - want it to be done tomorrow & in the same turn scared to death! Ha - if my emotions are mixed now I don't want to think about how they'll be after the surgery (lol)!

Also, Vaeh is scheduled to go for her bi-monthly date with Dr. Butto next Monday! I'm hoping that he'll see our aggravation with the oxygen tubing & we'll go for a cath & be able to ditch it soon! Keep praying... !

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! BTW - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my Hubby! They've been 6 wonderful years (tomorrow) & I can't wait for many, many more to come! I LOVE YOU!!