Flashback #4--October 2009, Ellie

The weekend before we went down for Rachel's wedding, all of us had some sort of stomach bug. Ellie got it first; she said a little girl in her class at school had been sick the day before Ellie got sick. By the end of the weekend, we'd all been sick and gotten better...or so we thought.



Everyone went back to school Monday except Maddie who I think just needed another day to recoup mentally. We were supposed to leave Tuesday right after school to go to Salt Lake for the wedding. When I picked the girls up from school Tuesday, her teacher said Ellie had been complaining of a tummy ache and running to the bathroom frequently. I took a mental note of this, looked back at Ellie who grinned at me and then we headed home to do the last minute prep before heading out of town



As soon as we got home, Ellie ran for the bathroom. When she came out, she said there was "pink stuff" in the toilet. Being the nurse that I am, I had to go look, of course. My first thought was that it was blood, but it really didn't look like that, so we went ahead with our plans to go to Salt Lake, figuring that if needed we could visit an Instacare there to get an antibiotic or whatever she might need.



As the week went on, Ellie didn't seem to get any better. There were moments when she seemed a little more energetic and I'd think, "okay, she's on the mend." And then 30 minutes later she was laying on the couch again with a tummyache and looking very pale.

Friday morning when she went to the bathroom there was obvious blood in her stool. In hindsight, I wish we'd packed up early and come home to see our family doctor. However, at the time my thought was to just keep monitoring her and again-if needed-we could go to a doc-in-the-box in Salt Lake.



Sunday morning, we woke up to get ready to return to Boise. When I gave Ellie a bath, I thought she not only looked pale, but was starting to look jaundiced. She was still having blood in her stool and now she was nauseous and throwing up periodically. We got home as quickly as we could and put her to bed hoping she would be better by morning.



Monday morning she was still just as sick so I got her in to our family doctor who examined her and ran some labs on her. They called us later that day to bring her to the hospital to be admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Her kidney function was compromised, platelets were low (17 when they should be above 130), and her hematocrit was 20 (should be above 36). We were told later that many kids who get this end up on dialysis--some with permanent kidney damage.



We were very fortunate. The pediatric nephrologist said he expected that she would have no permanent kidney damage and would completely recover. They gave her a unit of blood that first night and then just monitored her for the next four days, releasing her on Friday about 11pm.

It took about a month to get her hematocrit back up to where it should be, but now she's back to her old self and we are so grateful to have her healthy again!

Flashback #3--October 2009

October was a very exciting time. My youngest sister, Rachel was getting married in the Salt Lake Temple and we were traveling down to Utah for the occasion.

Siblings: Jared, Kelly, Rachel w/ new husband, Nate, Wendy, Daniel

My mom commented on how much different it was preparing for this wedding because Rachel was a little older than Wendy and I had been and had more clear cut ideas about what she wanted.

Nate & Rachel

The wedding was absolutely beautiful! Everything turned out wonderfully. The younger nieces all had matching outfits and were adorable.

All of the nieces

Cousins: Ava, Lucy, Ellie, Olivia

Nate and Rachel make a very lovely couple and I'm so excited to have another great brother-in-law!

Flashback #2--November 2009, Daniel's mission call

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, dozens of interviews (okay, I'm exaggerating) and a mountain of paperwork, Daniel finally got his mission call!

We invited several friends over including our bishop and previous bishop to witness the opening of the call and got grandparents on the phone to hear the moment and...drum roll...

He will be going to the Albuquerque, New Mexico Mission! He enters the MTC on January 27th. His farewell address will be on January 24th.

Flashback #1--July 2009

Many of you know some of the challenges Holly (and we, her parents) have faced over the last several years. In a nutshell, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 8.



Over the years, we've seen three different psychiatrists and four or more therapists to help Holly cope with changing moods, frustrations and emotions. We've tried many different types of medication with marginal results. Counseling was very effective, but she was only able to make progress with it on "good days." And last year we were starting have more bad days than good.



Several years ago, my mother started sending us articles on Asperger's Syndrome. This was something I had considered but only in passing. However, with my mother's encouragement, I brought it up to the psychiatrist. He was dismissive about it and others concerns we had. He steered us back in the direction of treating her for bipolar disorder.

We kept Asperger's in the back of our mind, but continued with the treatment the psychiatrist suggested. A few months later, he quit private practice and we had to find a new psychiatrist.




We found one that we liked okay, but as time went on, we became frustrated because we didn't feel like he was listening to us much like the last psychiatrist. He spent all of 15 minutes with her once every three months and we weren't seeing any improvement. We decided to look again for another psychiatrist.




While we were looking for a new psychiatrist, we decided to go to an Asperger's support group to find out more information. The people we talked to there suggested we see a developmental pediatrician and recommended one in the area. We made an appointment and waited...

When we finally got in to see him at the end of July, he spent 2 1/2 hours evaluating her, talking and listening to her and then discussed his findings and made suggestions. His diagnoses were as follows: Asperger's disorder; ADHD (we already had this diagnosis); a nonspecific mood disorder--possibly bipolar or something else; anxiety--(finally! someone besides us and her teachers who recognized this); and possibly oppositional defiance disorder. His recommendation as far as medication was to continue the Adderall for ADHD, start Prozac for the anxiety and discontinue the Lamictal (a mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder).



Within days of the change, we saw a marked difference in her moods, level of frustration and general level of happiness. At first, we were holding our breath waiting for the next wave of bad days to come--they didn't.


A month later, she started school. The teachers, principal and counselors at school noticed the difference in her right away. I stopped in to the school in mid-September to drop off something and the principal commented that she was like "a new kid." She started her internship at the school and they were overwhelming pleased with her--so much so that they started paying her in mid-November.



In the next couple of months she will start a new internship at the middle school in our area. She is looking at colleges for next year and making plans to become a special education teacher. Her progress over the last few months has been phenomenal and we are looking forward to a great future for her!

Flashbacks

Well, it's been nearly eight months since my last post. I read somewhere that you shouldn't apologize for not posting so I won't...and I'm not necessarily going to try and catch up either. That would be too daunting. So I'm just going to do a few "flashbacks" to fill in some gaps since May and move forward. Note new pictures of kids and family (Thank you, Jill!) to start our update!

Maddie's gymnastics 2008-2009 season

I realized I hadn't posted any pictures of Maddie's 2009 competition season, so here they are...

Her ending pose for her floor routine

Mid-cartwheel on the beam

Maddie calls this the "potty pose"

Level 5 team

Levels 5 & 6 salute the judges before beginning the rotation

Making progress...

See our progress!

Paul worked hard while I was at a meeting tonight.

Tomorrow night, we fill and plant!

Note bridal wreath spirea in the background--in bloom!

This will be our strawberry box!

Box #2--full sun


Box #3--right by the back door
Full sun for a lot of the day--partly shady for a little of the day


Question of the day: Why does my yard look better than the inside of my house?

Making plans...

GUESS WHAT WE'RE DOING!

Last year, I watched in awe as my sister and sister-in-law built (with the help of wonderful husbands) square-foot gardens. They looked great and the harvest looked even greater.

I took note of the website and this year I showed it to my landscape-loving husband. In the past, he's not been completely enthusiastic about a garden spot. Oh, he loves gardening--but a square vegetable garden set in rows is not as asthetically pleasing to the eye as he wants it to be.

He tried integrating vegetable plants into the landscape. This worked okay, but the soil was less than desirable for growing the vegetables and only putting a few here and there between bushes did not yield a very prolific crop.

When I showed him the square-foot gardens, however, his eyes lit up in an"Aha!" moment. They got wider when he saw the ones made out of vinyl. He immediately saw the potential in this project and is enthusiastically preparing to plant with me!

Stay tuned for more...

One child.

That's all I had after 7:30 this morning to spend time with, talk to and get ready for school. Oh, Ellie was thrilled! Thrilled that she had Mommy all to herself for over an hour before leaving for school. But it causes me quite a bit of reflection about life and how fast time passes.

April 2000

Daniel--Class of 2009

Graduating this year

Holly--Class of 2010

Taking Driver's Ed and preparing for an internship for next year.

Emily--Class of 2014

My child most recently turned teenager!

Madelyn--Class of 2017

Recently reached a double-digit birthday!

And Ellie!

Ellie--Class of 2020

1st grader extraordinaire!

In a few minutes I'll take her to school and watch her scamper off to play happily with her friends. And, as my mind takes a picture, perhaps for a moment, time will stand still...

Family Home Evening in the ADHD Zone

Family Home Evening at our house can be an interesting experience with half the family having ADHD moments since the meds have worn off by the end of the day.

Last night Maddie and Ellie prepared the lesson on Avoiding Gossip. They really did a pretty good job using scripture and quotes from general authorities as well as a game of hangman and an activity to help teach the lesson. However, the presentation of the lesson was a little unconventional. It went something like this...

Game of Hangman to introduce the subject.

Maddie starts, "Who can guess a letter?....(hands raised)...um Daniel."

"P," says Daniel after thinking for a moment.

"Yes!" calls Maddie, by now in the other room, and she front walk-over's her way back to the living room to fill in the "P" on the hangman.

Now Ellie chooses someone. "Emily." (Maddie is walking on her hands in the entryway)

Daddy says, "Maddie, come back in the living room--the teacher needs to stay in here."

"Okay." And she returns to sit on the piano bench. "How about another letter?"

"Wait it's still my turn!" say Emily indignantly.

Holly whispers to me, "Mom can you tickle my back?"

"Do we have milk for breakfast in the morning?" blurts out Daniel.

I reply, "We'll check after we're done with FHE. Let's finish Maddie's game."

"What game?"

"Hangman!" says an exasperated Daddy. (Maddie is doing back walk-overs in the entry)
Somehow we got through the hangman game and went on to the main part of the lesson.

Maddie and Ellie sat on the piano bench, read a scripture and a quote and then asked a question. (Raised hands) "Um...Holly."

"Let me think for a minute." Then she launches into a lengthy answer ending with 'don't you think, Dad?'

"Next question!" announces the nine-year-old instructor.

After a few more questions, it was time for the closing song, "Trying to be like Jesus." As the last note sounded, Maddie ran from the room calling, "I have to go to the bathroom!"
If you took all the pieces of the (exhausting) lesson and put them together without interruption--there was a good message there--I just hope a few bits of it went into the hearts and minds of each member of our family.

(Sigh) We'll go forth and try again next week!

New chapter in my life

Well...I graduated! I will take the NCLEX on February 12th and of course I plan on passing it the first go!.

Now I feel like I'm trying to run 100 mph to catch up on the things I've neglected during my tenure at school. In doing so, however, I've quite neglected my blog. And I don't think I'm going to try to catch up--we'll just go on from here!

I am orienting on the Telemetry Unit in Boise (cardiac patients). I'm working night shift which works really well with houseful of school-age kids. I go to work at 7pm and Daddy gets everyone tucked into bed. I get home around 8am--Daddy has already gotten the older kids off to school and I am home in time to get the younger two to school before crashing to sleep. I get up just in time to pick Maddie and Ellie up at school and supervise the afternoon homework.

I was expecting to have a little more time to spend doing some organizing of my home (although my sweet husband did a lot over the Christmas break) but somehow...I'm still busy! After all, I still have five children who pull stunts like getting strept throat (Emily), not asking for help with homework and bombing the math assignment(s) (Maddie), prompting a parent-teacher conference, and another daughter who had some labwork come back abnormal (Holly) prompting more tests and Dr. visits. But how glorious that I am done with school and have the time to be the MOM!!!!!!!!!!! I can take care of Emily while she's sick, work with Maddie on her math and be with Holly at each Dr. visit.

WE'RE FINALLY THERE!