Stir Crazy

That's how I feel. Cabin fever, I suppose. I am tired of being stuck inside. Summer in Western New York is very short. I am now destined to miss the rest of it due to my stupid broken ankle. Blah! No amusement parks or camping or day trips to the lake for me. Double Blah!

Alright, thanks for letting me vent. Actually, I really do have much to be thankful for. Brent is home. Although he is still not up to par, he is home and recovering. I am so happy about that!

Brent's Mom is here visiting and helping. To be honest, I don't know how we would make it without her. She is incredible and I am so thankful to have her here. The kids have all bonded with her but especially Nate. He gets super excited when she comes near him and I think that he is going to be really sad when she goes home. That goes for all of us, though.

Tyler is in the midst of "roid rage" and it is the worst we've seen. He is miserable. Poor little guy didn't sleep at all last night which meant Brent was also awake since I am of little use. Luckily he went to sleep pretty early tonight and we're hoping he gets some good rest. He is still doing his IV antibiotics and we pray that the infection gets better.

Emmalee has really enjoyed having her Grama Gardner here. They have been playing outside and reading lots of stories. Emma has also shown a real love for laundry! She was quite disappointed today when Grama told her they weren't doing laundry since it was Sunday.

Nathaniel is doing great. That boy just stays calm even during the craziest circumstances. He is such a love! He is truly a calming influence in our home. He has changed so much, even in just the past couple of weeks. He is very vocal now and loves to chatter, scream, squeal, etc. I think he likes hearing his own voice. Speaking of hearing...it is becoming more and more obvious that he does hear. He is very responsive now, turns when we call his name, looks when he hears a noise, etc. He is also beginning to imitate sounds. I think that perhaps he just needed time to catch up and for everything to start working together. We will still take him to the neurologist at the end of October but I am getting less and less concerned. I honestly believe that he will be just fine. I think it will just take him longer to develop than other kids. Considering he was nearly four months early, that is totally understandable. Either way, Nate is one amazing, adorable, sweet little boy!

As for me...I go to the doctor on Thursday and I hope and pray she takes this cast off and fits me with something more manageable. The cast I am in now is really starting to bug me. It is a temp cast anyway but I am hoping the next step isn't something even more confining. Most people don't know this about me but I have very claustrophobic feet. I know that sounds odd but these past two weeks of having to have them bound up has really started to get on my nerves. Sleeping is almost unbearable. (I don't even like to sleep with socks on!) Luckily I can take the boot off my left foot and give it a breather once in awhile. It is going to be a long twelve weeks....only ten to go!

All in all, things are getting better. Maybe the voodoo dolls have been put away for awhile. Thank you all for your continued love, support and prayers. We truly appreciate each of you!

From Bad to Worse to HOLY COW, Are You Kidding Me?!?

I am beginning to believe that someone in this world has voodoo dolls of our family and is trying to find new ways to torture us.

Brent is in the hospital. He was admitted early this morning. He has an infection in his arms that they are fairly certain is MRSA. He started getting redness and pain in his arms earlier in the week. However, he sort of pushed it off, thinking it was nothing, and trying to focus on me and the kids and everything else instead. On Thursday night I finally convinced him to go to urgent care. They took one look at his arms and sent him to the ER. They wanted to admit him right away but he refused because of the need to take Tyler to clinic on Friday and my obvious inability to drive. They pumped him full of IV antibiotics and let him come home.

By last night, the redness was beginning to streak up his arms and he had a fever. Obviously this caused some alarm and he went back to the ER. This time there were no excuses, they admitted him right away.

Right now they are trying to determine if he has MRSA. They are pretty certain he does but they are waiting for the final culture results. They are strongly considering removing a section of the muscle in his left arm because that is where the infection is concentrated. If the damage is too great, they will have to remove the muscle. They are hoping that the IV antibiotics will reduce the swelling and get rid of the infection. They just aren't sure yet.

I am beside myself with worry. I can't drive, I can't go to the hospital, I can't be with him and that is killing me. I hate that he is there alone. I hate that he is there at all. This whole situation is like a bad dream that I pray we will wake up from.

As if that isn't enough, Tyler was put back on his IV antibiotics on Friday. They actually wanted to admit him from clinic but they decided to go ahead and try the home treatment again. He still has a nasty infection around his G-Tube. So far he has no fever so we pray the antibiotics will do the trick.

All I know is that we could not make it through all of this without the help we have received from our friends, church family and health care professionals. We have had meals brought in, help with childcare, help with housework, etc. Our friend Tasha is staying with the kids and I and we are truly thankful for her. Also, Brent's Mom is coming in from AZ late tomorrow night. Having her here is going to be such a blessing.

I am a strong person and I know that. Brent and I are strong together, we have an incredible marriage, and we will get through this. I just wish I could understand why on earth these major challenges continue to present themselves, one right after another. We keep saying, "it could always be worse." I think it's time to quit saying that because it keeps getting worse.

Please continue to pray for our family. Your prayers are carrying us and they are being felt!!! Thank you....I will update again soon.

Hooray For Home!!

I am home! They released me last night and I got home about 6:00. I am so glad to be home. The kids were happy to see me and it was wonderful to sleep in my own bed. There's just no rest in the hospital!

I had surgery on my right foot on Monday. It is very sore and I won't be able put any pressure on it at all for twelve long weeks. That should make life very interesting. The left foot is in a big brace, kind of like a boot. I can put pressure on it, thank goodness. It is still sore but I think it is healing pretty well. The swelling seems to be down some and it doesn't throb nearly as much as the right foot. Luckily, after more x-rays, they found that there were no broken bones in the left foot. But, the sprain was really bad and there was some ligament damage. Nothing like the right foot but still enough to cause a good injury. I will probably have to wear the boot on it for a couple of weeks and then it should be healed up enough to go without.

My right foot is in a plaster cast of sorts and I can still feel how swollen the ankle is. The doctor said it will swell for quite awhile. After a few weeks they should be able to switch it to a fiberglass cast which will make things like bathing a lot easier. I still won't be able to put any pressure on it but at least it will be easier to manage.

Obviously I can't drive so that is going to make life tricky. Brent is going to have to take the next several Fridays off of work in order to take Tyler to clinic. We also have to have someone here at the house whenever Brent isn't home because I can't take care of the kids by myself. The help we have received already has been tremendous and we are so appreciative! Thanks to everyone for constantly lifting our family up in prayer as well. We certainly couldn't make it through all of our trials without all of you!

Never A Dull Moment!

Well, apparently we love Hotel Strong, (aka Strong Hospital) so much that we simply can't stay away. Thankfully it isn't Tyler who is here this time. This time it is me.

Yesterday Brent was putting Emmalee in the car to make their traditional Saturday morning drive to McDonald's for pancakes. I was bringing Tyler out and somehow managed to trip and fall. I severly sprained my left ankle and broke my right foot and ankle. I will be off my feet for several weeks. I have to have surgery sometime tomorrow to put some screws in to repair torn ligaments in the right foot. Thankfully Tyler escaped with nothing more than a scrape on the back of his head, thank goodness!

Please say a little prayer that my surgery will go well and I will be able to go home soon. I miss Brent and the kids so much! I'll keep you all posted.

Tyler's Funny Hat!

These were actually taken awhile ago but I just came across them again today and had to post. Ty had such a great time with this thing!!