S wanted a picture with his Izzy but she wasn't interested in the sitting still part ;-)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Break has officially started and I am already exhausted ;)  I feel like I haven't stopped moving the last few days--all those little last minute things to get done :p  I look forward to the days after Christmas when we can relax and slow down!

15 month well child visit

Today was S's surgery follow-up appointment--everything is looking great!  The bones are still nicely aligned and his incisions look good.  They took off the wrappings and splint and put him in a short cast--he was so excited about that :p  The long cast meant he couldn't move his elbow but now he is more comfortable and can do more things :)  The doc said the titanium rods will do the job of holding everything in place so the long cast wasn't necessary anymore.  Three weeks and we go back for another check and possibly get the cast off.  S is really hoping the cast can come off because then he could join the next session of swim lessons (he had to miss the last few weeks because of his arm and now lessons are over).

In other news, Izzy has gone and grown up on me ;-)  Last week when I was hospitalized, she had a hard time being away from me but she did it and even had fun while I was gone :)  She has been eating real meals instead of just snacking between nursing sessions, she has decided she likes drinking milk and water from her straw cup, and she has gotten even more opinionated.  My little baby has decided it is time to be my little toddler!

Today was the last day of swim lessons--B sure was happy to be there :)

S was finally able to return to school today and he was both nervous and excited.  It is the first time he has been back since last Monday when he broke his arm in the evening.  Last week, he didn't go in because the surgeon that set his arm did not want him in school while he was on the Tylenol with codeine--good call on his part because S slept away most of last week and when he was awake he was spacey.  He had an ortho appointment on Friday and then another on Monday, then surgery on Tuesday, and then he was sick from the anesthesia on Wednesday.  He has adjusted to the pain meds now and can take them if needed and still be alert so off to school he went.  He had a great day :)  He was happy to see his friends although he did not want to tell anyone what happened to him or that he had surgery.  Last week, he got a big envelope in the mail full of handmade cards from all his classmates wishing him a good recovery, many of them Star Wars themed because S is such a Star Wars fan :)  It was very cute.  They are all very curious about where he has been and what happened so we had a talk today about how it is fine if he does not want to talk about it but he does need to be polite because they are just curious and worried about him.  The standard second-grade response is "none of your beeswax" but I would prefer he be a little politer ;)

I think the universe is out to get me.....

S had his surgery yesterday--he was very nervous but he was a champ about it all. He was very cooperative and they asked him if he wanted a parent to come back with him until he fell asleep. He asked me to come and held my hand until he was asleep.

We took Izzy downstairs to feed her some breakfast and while waiting in line, I started feeling a little sick. I felt perfectly fine up until that point but soon afterwards, I was in the bathroom throwing up. I felt a little off and spent most of the next hour or so in the waiting room with my eyes closed while the mister entertained Izzy. 

When the surgery was done and S was in recovery, we met with the surgeon in a consult room--they successful placed titanium rods in S's two bones so they are nice and straight and have the extra strength to stay in place as they heal. There was one small complication--he had a bump on one of the bones from the healing of the first time he broke it and that was preventing the rod from going in. So they had to open up his arm and repair the bump so he does have an incision along his arm instead of just the two holes at his wrist. 

At that point, I commented on how hot the room was and the mister and the doctor thought it was cool. Someone, I'm not sure who, said I was really pale, and the next thing I know, I am on a bed with people poking at me and I have no idea what is going on. I lost huge portions of yesterday and have only scattered memories of most of the rest of the day. I have been told I collapsed and was very confused. My blood pressure was a tad bit high, I had a fever, and I was in tachycardia for many hours. They did not know how long I was in tachycardia before I collapsed and were worried that my heart was going to be damaged so I was admitted to the hospital for observation. I remember waking up in the Children's ER and asking if I hit my head because it hurt (they said no). And then I was in an ambulance but I have no memory of being loaded up in it. I spent some time in the adult hospital ER. I know I was moved to the cardiac observation unit but I don't remember being moved there. I had many EKGs and blood draws and was hooked up to heart monitors all night. At some point overnight my heart rate finally came back to normal and once it has stayed normal for several hours they did one last check of my heart--no damage. It appears I had a perfect storm of a virus, stress, the onset of a migraine, slight dehydration, and the pain from the infection in my arm that led to the tachycardia and collapse. Scary stuff, my friends. I really do not ever want to wake up full of tubes and wires again and not know what is happening or why :/

I was told that S was sick from the anesthesia and threw up a lot most of the evening but he feels much better today and is glad I am home. He was very worried because he knew something bad must have happened to keep me from taking care of him while he was recovering. Poor little guy :( Izzy had a hard time of it, too, and has not left my side since I got home this afternoon. B just thought he got a fun sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's LOL

Surgery tomorrow

Well, S had his ortho appointment and the broken bones are still shifting around so he is on the schedule for a surgical repair tomorrow.  Third kid in eight months to be on the surgical floor of the Children's Hospital.  How did our boring little life get so complicated?

She still has a low-grade fever but overall she is feeling better.  She plays for a bit, nurses, naps, plays.  And she kept down some crackers and soup :)

As soon as I hit "publish" on my last post, my girl woke and vomited :(  Some cuddles and mommy-singing made it better enough to try sleep again

It has been a VERY long week.....

Monday started off pretty well.  Izzy was finally well enough to go to her swim lesson and she was so excited, especially since her Daddy was able to come and watch her.  She kept showing off that she had learned the word water and shouted it often, she kicked, she splashed, she jumped in the pool on her own a bunch of times, she screamed her Daddy's name countless times so he would watch her, and she just had a ton of fun.  This was only the second lesson out of five she managed to make it to because of illness.  Her last one is this coming Monday but she cannot go :\  The reason is coming up.

B was in a great mood when he got off the bus and was even happier when Grandpa stopped by and invited him over.  That meant I would be picking up S with just Izzy and S loves that because it gives us "alone time" in the car--he had had a great day at school and chattered all the way home.  We pick up B on the way home, there is much fun with games, a favorite dinner, and then I ask S to do his chores while I give Izzy a bath.  He comes to tell me something and when he's done, I remind him to do his chores (ADHD--we remind a lot).  He goes into the hallway and I see him swinging on the  rails of the open baby gate (it is a swing gate.  He boosted himself up on the stationary rails and was swinging back and forth in the opening).  I tell him to please stop swinging on the baby gate because he could get hurt and within seconds, he slips, falls face first to the floor, there is a horrific CRACK and he screams "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! NO NO NO NO NO NO" and then crying.  He broke his arm again.  Exact same place as the break in August and his forearm is in a U shape.  I can't walk away from the baby because is in the tub so I yell for the husband in the hopes that he is still awake (he works nights so he got up for dinner and then went back to bed for a few more hours before work), tell S that it will be okay and please sit on the sofa because I have to get Izzy out of the tub.  I rinse her quickly and scoop her out and S is trying to wander around the house (just like last time) and the husband was awake and trying to stay calm (I guess if you are looking for a bright side it is that having been through it just a few months ago, I was not frazzled and was able to get us out the door very quickly).  Told the husband to go dress, called the parents to come get B, packed B's bag to stay the night and school stuff for Tuesday, got the baby ready, got S ready, got extra clothes for the baby in the diaper bag in case S was admitted overnight, and started the car to warm up.

I wanted to go to the Children's Hospital where B and Izzy had their surgeries this time--last time we went to the local ER and they had trouble setting his arm because both bones were broken.  Surgery was a possibility last time and I figured a second break that was presenting exactly the same made surgery much more likely.  I would much rather the pediatric orthopedic surgeons do it at a hospital I trust to do surgery.

S was very brave and did his best to stay calm.  They took him back immediately and got his IV hooked up and some morphine and did some x-rays.  I'm not sure how much time passed but I'm guessing maybe an hour or so and a pediatric orthopedic surgeon was down to set the arm.  In the local ER, we found out afterwards that a Nurse Practitioner did it and she didn't have much experience--might explain why there was so much manipulation to get it in place.  They gave him conscious sedation and then the surgeon set the arm--he did it really quickly, you could tell he knew exactly what he was doing.  They did x-rays right there and then to make sure it was okay and then began the splint.  I was expecting the board and ace bandage splint we had for the first break but the surgeon said he didn't think they were a good idea for kids--they are fine for adults but kids need more structure and support.  So he did a long cast and then cut it along the sides (staying connected on the top and bottom) so it had room to expand for swelling and then wrapped over it with some tape and an ace bandage.  The tape was to keep it snug but allow us to loosen it if there was too much swelling.  S said the outer bandage made it look like a beehive :p

We had to wait around for a while for him to come out of sedation and keep some liquids down (common side effect is vomiting but he did not either time he had ketameen (sp?).  Just like last time, he cycled between grateful, precocious, and belligerent LOL  I should have taped it.....

While we were at the hospital, a slightly annoying and itchy bump on my arm that I thought may have been a bug bite began to hurt and swell and turn red.  By the next day, most of my forearm and hand were swollen and it was so incredibly painful I couldn't believe it.  There were no appointments available for Tuesday so I had to wait for Wednesday for an appointment--staph infection :\  I pretty much did noting but sleep for the next three days because of the pain and exhaustion.  S is on codeine for pain so he slept with me....

Friday, B had his followup from his surgery last month.  His ears look great and he finally passed a hearing test!!

S also had an appointment at the ortho clinic--things weren't as good for him :(  The new x-rays show that his bones are at an angle instead of straight.  He is borderline for needing surgical repair.  They took off the temporary cast and did a new cast to reposition  his hand.  He goes back on Monday for another set of x-rays--the hope is the bones will begin to straighten as they heal so they are going to keep a close eye on it to see if we can wait it it out or if he needs to have surgery.

I stopped by my dr so she could check my arm--it looks and feels awful but the antibiotics need more time so I go back Monday to see if she can drain it and hopefully get out all.  At least I felt better today and didn't sleep all day :p  B had his swim lesson (S has to skip the rest of his lessons) and we ran some errands.  The boys and I watched a movie while Izzy played (she has no time for silliness such as the tv) but then she started throwing up :(  Poor girl has been throwing up on and off all evening.  She finally stopped and nursed a little while ago and so far so good.  I am tired but will stay up for a little while longer to make sure she is done throwing up.  Poor baby seemed so confused by it :\
I srue hope tomorrow is a better day.....