Oh my....I almost forgot....the present on the kitchen table!  So, I'm in the recovery room with Benjamin when all of the sudden I remembered so I said to the nurse "Is there a phone I can use....I need to make a rather urgent call to my husband".  She directed me to the desk where I called Larry and asked him to ditch the gift that I had left for Krissy on the table(he was on it already and it was no where in sight when she got home).  On another note, Jamie had a voice recital tonight in Vancouver.... she may have been the only kid there with neither parent in the audience :o(  Some good friends, the Bradners, picked her up at home and will bring her home afterwards tonight.  Mom is planning to spend the night at our house and Jamie will get Krissy up and ready for school.  Pray please that all of that will go well.  Good night for now...more tomorrow!

I think our day is ending better than it started...As I've said more than once today, Benjamin must have heard that we were sending him back to school today.   That was our plan...until about 2 am when I woke up to him moaning.  I wasn't sure what was wrong but got him changed and gave him tylenol and a bottle and layed down on the sofa next to his crib.  He was back to sleep around 4 am, me about 4:45.  I shut off the alarm at 6am and after calling to cancel his bus, I fell back to sleep.  I awakened at 8:36 (Krissy's bus is due at 8:45) and realized YIKES.  So....Larry arrived home at the same time the bus arrived, so we sent them on their way, saying we'd bring her to school later.  Meanwhile Benjamin had started vomiting and obviously was sick.  I put in a call to the surgeons office and was given an appt. time.  I ran Krissy to school and told her NO RUNNING and NO SCREAMING today at school...and if she obeyed, there would be a good present for her on the table when she came home (more on this topic later)

I had asked if we could get an xray prior to seeing the Dr. and they said they would order it. We ended up waiting and waiting in Radiology....they said they didn't have the order, etc. Benjamin had a toy that he likes a lot and kept pushing the same button over and over and over...so I parked quite close to the check in desk and found that to be an effective maneuver in speeding up the process of locating the aforementioned order in the fax machine.  Wish I had thought of it 30 minutes earlier.  After getting the films, we headed up to the clinic where the decision was quickly made to admit him to the hospital, get an IV started and a general anesthesia arranged for this afternoon for the surgeon to examine him while he was asleep.  All of that happened pretty fast.  I was able to stay with him while he was put under before they had me leave.  I used the time while waiting to listen to voicemail... that's when I learned in a message from Kristin's teacher that she had escaped from the school this afternoon.  She was telling the story chronologically, so we got to the part about them calling 911 and I'm thinking "I sure hope this message has a happy ending".  She went on to say that they caught up with her (I think) in a storage building and she walked back into the school...at which point they cancelled the police who had not yet arrived.  Whew.  The next message was Jim Seymour, our friend who is a Gresham Police officer and was one of them responding to the call today.  He wanted me to know that she was safe and  had apparently had a change of heart about escaping (or was she remembering the present on the table at home??) and returned to the school.  So nice of him to call too.  I know God gives us enough grace for each day, but if I had heard this news before they caught up with her it would have been really hard, so we're so thankful for a safe outcome.  Larry and I have prayed and really feel like we're at a crossroad with Krissy where we probably need to pursue looking at some sort of medication.  We so don't want to 'drug her' as it's diminished her ability to learn and her quality of life in the past when she had them...however, her behavior is becoming more difficult to manage and her safety so difficult to protect, we need to do something.  SO pray that either things will really turn around for her or that we'll find a medication that will really work well for her with minimal side effects.  We very much want to be able to keep her in our home and in her current school situation. We really like the school and appreciate the staff so much, it would be such a loss for Krissy and us to have to move her to a different school.  

Back to Benjamin...the surgeon called me a few minutes ago and said he was able to talk with our surgeon in Cincinnati this evening.  They are in agreement about a plan of doing a procedure tomorow, again under anesthesia to try and buy us some time before an actual operation is done.  They are thinking of that being in 3-4 weeks and leave the decision to us of whether to do that here or in Cincinnati.  I think I'd like to put off this decision to another day.But for now, the little boy seems to be feeling better and I'm hopeful that once they do what needs to be done, we can get home. 

My mom and I have tickets to go to Montana by train Wednesday night.  My Aunt Margaret and Uncle Irvin have graciously decided to give Larry and I their 2005 Subaru (they got a new one this weekend).  This is such a blessing for us.  Our Oldsmobile, though we all really like it is a Senior Citizen with nearly 200,000 miles on it.  The Subaru is AWD so will be great if we have bad weather and Larry won't have to park at the bottom of the hill and walk up to work if it's snowy or icy.  Mom and I (should we go) would arrive in Whitefish on Thursday morning.  If we've had some sleep on the train overnight, we will probably visit with family that day, and then after dinner, take off for home,hopefully getting over to Sandpoint, Id or even Spokane to spend the night.  I'm not very good at long periods of driving without getting pretty sleepy, so to break it up would be nice.  However, if we feel like we need to get a good sleep in, we'll try and leave about 5am on Friday and get back before Larry needs to leave for work that night.  The girls also have a show that evening. They had 4 this weekend and they went well. 

So, there are's our update and things you can pray for...Love to you, Janelle

Good Morning,

Hoping it was a good weekend for you all...it was here.  Larry unexpectedly had Fri-Sat nights off work as he just didn't feel quite right and has to be very cautious since he works with babies. Thankfully, he got feeling better rather than worse and was able to return to work last night. David had a great time with the final 4 performances over the weekend.  The girls ushered at both shows on Saturday and we all enjoyed seeing family and friends who came to enjoy the shows.  It was a very full house yesterday for the final show and  I enjoyed having a nearly front row seat.  Afterwards we packed up the 'Snack Shop' and then joined the crowd in the cafeteria for the Strike Party.  Having arranged a ride back to Portland for David (thanks Melanie!) I slipped out early in order to drive straight to the theater in Gresham for the move-in for Pocahontas.  David was honored with the "Trooper Award", one of 9 special awards given to the cast/crew, so that was an unexpected surprise (rats....I missed being there for that :o). 

Good news for Benjamin...he's feeling good again and really wanting to get out of the house. Maybe he can have some car time today.  He loves for someone to take him out so he can just sit in the car in the driveway.  He needs to have some further diagnostic testing....this relates to his stoma and what the Dr. at the time of his recent surgery said may require another operation. Larry and I had concerns over this recommendation and so we had a 2nd opinion on Friday.  This surgeon validated our concern and wants to see if it's possible to remedy this without a surgical procedure. However the exam needs to be done under anesthesia, so I'm working this morning on setting that up.  Benj and Krissy both have the week off school, so we'll hopefully be having lots of happy times at home as well as frequent trips to the pool. The girls have dress rehearsals for the next 3 nights as well as Friday afternoon before Pocahontas opens Friday evening. I just received my parent pass last night (above) and thought it was a nice picture of the girls :o)  They're sleeping so they didn't get veto power on my posting it! We're looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner at Mindy's.

More news when there is news....Janelle

Happy Rainy Friday...Thankfully the high winds from the coast have slowed down before moving inland, so at least so far, the storm is mostly non-stop rain.  Kristin had her Harvest Feast scheduled at school today...she was able to invite someone from school and someone from home to come (she chose Mommy :o).  It was an amazing meal.  Apparently teacher Jorie and her husband arrived at 5:30 this morning and put the turkeys in the oven.  The kids helped with the preparation...can you imagine trying to fix Thanksgiving dinner with  10 or 12 developmentally disabled middle schoolers helping you??????  They deserve a medal!  And it was not a short-cut sort of affair....it was an amazing meal with many special dishes.  Krissy had decorated little flower pots with our names on them, filled with candy.  

I had an appointment with the surgeon over at the Children's Hospital at 10am and had arranged for Larry to meet me at the school at 11:30...that way he could take Benamin on home and I could join Krissy.  Well, my appointment was lengthy (very helpful, but long) and then we were briefly stuck in an elevator in the parking garage.  Seemed like it was time for personal introductions with the other occupant (a middle age man) as well as my sharing that I had one can of formula for the 3 of us....that was about when the elevator decided to let us out.  I called Larry and asked him to go get started with Krissy and I'd call him when we arrived.  Apparently Krissy knew she had invited me and she would not eat until I arrived.  Larry asked her to name 5 things she was thankful for...she held up 2 fingers and said "Two. Mickey Mouse and Mama".  Sniff....How sweet is that???????  She had a new dress for the occasion this morning and even wore tights without complaining.  Wish I had taken her picture....I don't think the dress looked quite the same after the feast. 

In an hour and a half I'll be leaving again for the evening.  The girls need to be dropped off at their rehearsal and then David and I are headed up to Washougal for his evening performance. Uncle Ray, Aunt Linda, Grandma & Bill are coming tonight so that will be great to see them.  They were so great about rescheduling...they had tickets last weekend but then David was  sick.  Larry returns to a 6 night work stretch tonight.  I have had an Aunt hospitalized this week in Salt Lake City as well as an Uncle in Kalispell, so lots of medical challenges in the extended family as well. 

Next week will be 'different' with all of the kids out of school for the whole week.  We're planning to be at my sister Mindy's house for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday evening after Larry gets up.  Once we get thru the girls 2 weekends of shows, Mom and I are planning to fly to Sacramento for several days to spend time with my cousin Steve and his wife Julie.  Many of you know Julie has cancer and continues to undergo chemotherapy.  Recent testing showed that the therapy is continuing to work, so we're so thankful that she's tolerating it so well.  Remember them in your prayers as this certainly is a difficult journey, but one where they continue to shine brightly in their continued trust in God's grace for each day.  

Have a great weekend.  Remember...no news is good news :o))

Love Janelle

Hypertension

One really nice thing that the program Benjamin is in (State of Oregon Children's Medically Involved Program) will be providing for us is 4 hours of weekly housecleaning.  The lady (Jennifer) from "The Maids" who came to give a bid this afternoon will certainly have stories for her dinner table tonight.  Kris came home from school on edge, reportedly banging on the bus windows and screaming at an older student.  She was being so out of control just prior to Jennifer's arrival, so she was in her room.  I forgot to bolt the door after letting Jennifer in and she and I were touring the house when Jamie let Krissy out of her room...unfortunately I was in the basement and Krissy came up,  tried the front door and immediately ran.  The girls were hot on the trail, but they really had a work out.  I came upstairs with Jennifer to find the front door open and all the daughters missing.  I excused myself and tore out the door with my keys and began driving the route I thought she'd be traveling.  Hey, a girl has a right to change her mind....and she did.  I wasn't seeing ANYBODY, so I was on the phone with the police as I turned around near the lake and headed back again.  I spotted Anne running then, barefoot except for an ace wrap around the foot she injured last evening at CYT's showcase.  Anyway, she got in the car and directed me back to our neighborhood where Jamie had Krissy down on a neighbors lawn. I still haven't heard all of the details, but know she ran into one neighbors house (they weren't home, but don't lock their door).  Anyway, with difficulty we got her home, only to have her run again before we got her in the house.  Meanwhile Jennifer is in our living room all by herself, worried sick.  Welcome to our life...

We have to be thankful again for God's protection for Krissy.  It's hard to remember everything all the time....it was totally my fault the door wasn't bolted after Jennifer came in.  Thankfully it's another happy ending.  Jamie's done a good job of calming her down.

Hoping for a peaceful evening,

J

Here I thought Larry had gone to bed for the day and was so surprised to spot him out in the front yard raking the leaves.  Remember the big storm coming.....he decided he needed to seize the moment and get the lawn mowed, etc.  I decided we probably won't be seeing the yard look this pretty again for awhile, so I went out and took some pictures.  The sun was even shining for awhile!

Meanwhile I received an e-mail and knew Krissy would want me to pass it on to you....

During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password:


  "MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento"

When asked why such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.

Good Morning, 

All is well here...David seems to have fully recovered and is up in Washougal today for 2 performances for school field trips.   We're keeping Benjamin at home until after Thanksgiving break and then we'll see how he's doing.  We're often not quite sure where he is with pain levels because he can't tell us and he tends to just compensate somehow for it rather than fuss.  I've seen a difference in how he's toddling around the house and know he's guarding that tummy.

As you can see in the photo's, Krissy (we're now back to Krissy per her directive) was very focused this morning.  Note the layered look with her outfit.  I decided that if there is a persistent problem with her shedding clothing at school when she gets upset, I'll try and stay a step ahead with layering.  I want her to learn that this isn't appropriate, but I really think at some level she's recognized that when she's upset and does this, it also raises the level of emotion in the people around her (due to the level of inappropriateness!)...so in a way, that may be feeding her frenzy.  My thinking is that while we work on getting her to express herself in more acceptable ways,  we can have her fully dressed under the top layer that may come off...then no one gets excited and the situation can be handled calmly...and hopefully will become much less 'rewarding' for her.  "Logical' thinking doesn't always pan out the way I'm hoping, so watch this space...

Hard to believe, but I have a pretty clear calendar today, so having gotten Jamie out to the college this morning, David & Krissy gone for most of the day and Larry sleeping, Benjamin, Anne and I are going to just enjoy a day inside, hopefully getting some things caught up before another busy weekend.  Larry tells me a big storm is coming in (I assume and hope he's talking about the weather), so button down the hatches and hold on to your hats...

Remembering much to be thankful for, Janelle

Well, she just got in the door from the bus and gave me a "thumbs up" and said it was GOOD DAY!  Wow, I wonder if we could save money on bus snacks if I just went and picked up a bag of guinea pig food and put it in little zip locks.  Let's hope she doesn't have any bad days this week....

Apparently Krissy has had a challenging day at school.  I don't know if things fell apart all at once, but apparently she has been running from the class and also got a report of her removing her dress and eating guinea pig food (not at the same moment, but still...........)  Pray that it's just a little whitecap in an otherwise calm sea...I'm not ready for another cycle of psychotic behavior quite yet.

Good Morning,

Thanks for praying for our boys.  David missed the remaining 4 shows this weekend but by last evening was feeling better.  I'm not superstitious so I can tell you that we're very thankful that we made it thru the weekend without anyone else coming down with it.  We sure don't mind your prayers for continued protection!

While David stayed home, my responsibilities at the theater remained, so I spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon/evenings there.  Jamie and Anne ushered yesterday so they enjoyed the opportunity to see many friends who attended.  David's dance partner did a great job adapting, including dancing with her invisable partner some of the time as well as blending into the background at other times she would have been prominently involved.  And all with a great attitude.   It's been refreshing to see the kids genuine concern for David during this time.

David is in a Criminal Justice Class at Mt. Hood and had a ride along scheduled today with our policeman friend Jim...I called and hopefully he can do that next Monday instead.  He has 6 remaining shows as well as a CYT class showcase tomorrow night (and his regular college classes) so it's a busy enough week ahead for him.

Krissy continues to be happy and quite compliant....such an amazing change from what we were seeing a couple weeks ago.  She has a special Harvest Lunch at her school on Friday that she's invited me to, so we both get to dress up for that.  

Hope your week goes well...  Love, Janelle & all 

Just a quick note Saturday morning....David's opening night was last evening and it was a great show. I did however wonder where he was at one point when he would have normally been on the stage. I found out afterwards that he was on the verge of vomiting and felt terrible. Larry took him straight home (there was an opening night party) and he went to bed. He's not a wimp about sickness at all, and in fact is rarely ill, so when he said he couldn't do the shows today, we knew he was sick. Anyway, this throws a major challenge at the artistic team since much of David's role is partner dancing with Janelle (love the name) and I'm not sure how you swing dance by yourself (but we're about to find out). Please pray for those affected by the change today including family that was traveling from out of town this weekend to see David....and for a speedy recovery. We're praying for protection too for the family (Benjamin!) as well as the rest of the cast that he's been around. Benjamin continues to be pretty quiet...we think he's having some pain and are trying to keep him covered with Tylenol, Motrin, etc.

I'm on my way to a mandatory meeting for the girls show (Pocahontas, opening end of November) before flying up to Washougal for the 2 shows.  Larry has the hard job...he's covering home and Cindy (who previously planned to go to David's show today) is coming to cover church so Larry can go. The girls and I will plan to go in the morning.  We continue to hang on for the ride and trust Him who gives peace for each new day (even with frequent surprises).

Love Janelle

Just a quick note Saturday morning....David's opening night was last evening and it was a great show.  I did however wonder where he was at one point when he would have normally been on the stage.  I found out afterwards that he was on the verge of vomiting and felt terrible.  Larry took him straight home (there was an opening night party) and he went to bed.  He's not a wimp about sickness at all, and in fact is rarely ill, so when he said he couldn't do the shows today, we knew he was sick.  Anyway, this throws a major challenge at the artistic team since much of David's role is partner dancing with Janelle (love the name) and I'm not sure how you swing dance by yourself (but we're about to find out).  Please pray for those affected by the change today including family that was traveling from out of town this weekend to see David....and for a speedy recovery.  We're praying for protection too for the family (Benjamin!) as well as the rest of the cast that he's been around.  Benjamin continues to be pretty quiet...we think he's having some pain and are trying to keep him covered with Tylenol, Motrin, etc. I'm on my way out the door for a mandatory Pocahontas meeting for the girls before I run up to Washougal to do refreshments for the 2 shows later today.  Larry will hold down the fort here and Cindy is coming so he can have a break to get to church.  Us girls will get there in the morning. 

What a ride....we keep holding on to Him who is in control. 

Love Janelle

Just a short post tonight to let you know Benjamin came home today.  He's a bit subdued, maybe some pain (he can't tell us).  I think I need to get to bed...it's been a long day, but Molly and I got Krissy up to Washougal tonight to enjoy David's show (the final dress rehearsal).  She did pretty well, but Molly and I agree we wouldn't try taking her to the real thing.  I think Benjamin is tucked in for the night.  Tomorrow is a big day.  Thanks again for your caring, demonstrated in many ways this week as well as your many prayers for our little boy (and Kris too)

Love janelle

I  just couldn't resist posting just a couple more pictures.  I showed Benjamin his Converse High Tops and he just lit up....probably thought "All right, mom and I are outta here".  He was alittle guarded but went for quite a walk (ok, maybe 25 feet, but this is the first walk with a big 'ol incision).  As you can see he wanted a ride back. 

The resident came around and I told him that things were going well enough that I thought we could probably go tomorrow.  They are very short of beds here, and in fact are having to divert patients to other hospitals.  He said he'd get the paperwork started, so just maybe it won't even take most of the day to be set free.  

The girls and I would love to make a short visit to the Harvest Moon Bazaar at church as it may be our only opportunity.  Then Molly and I are on tomorow evening for taking Krissy to see big brother in High School Musical 2.  It's actually his last dress rehearsal before opening on Friday, but taking her to a rehearsal is far more relaxing than going to a show.  The girl hasn't yet met a stage she can resist. 

Maybe our next post will be from home....Mom is doing night duty tonight, so hopefully Krissy will be settled.  I plan to sleep in a little longer than today, maybe heading to Gresham at 6am to get Kris up and on her bus.  She, as of the bus safety meeting yesterday, was approved for a bus buddy, so she'll always have an adult with her, which we believe will significantly reduce the risks to her and the rest of the world. 

Take care and thanks for praying us thru this recent, somewhat wearing leg of our journey. 

Love, janelle

It's a happy day...As you can see from Benjamin enjoying playtime with Jamie, he's feeling so much better! I'm really looking forward to taking him home soon. I asked the nurse to call me at 4:30 this morning so I could get up and drive to Gresham.. Cindy graciously agreed to sleep over at our house last night, but needed to leave for work at 5:30. I really enjoyed the outing. I was able to get a number of things together for the responsibilities I have for David's show (refreshment committee :o) as well as a couple loads of laundry and watching Kristin for several hours. I got her up about 7am. She looked pleasantly surprised to see me and said, with enthusism "Janelle!!! " as though she wanted to add "welcome home, where have you been?" She was so calm and just was enjoying entertaining herself and having me push the swing with her in it (indoor!). Molly was able to come over late mornng and so I was able to return here to the hospital. I was so encouraged to have Benjamin take over 5 oz., his first real feeding. He tried yesterday, but it was only equivalent to a tablespoon for the day...he just wasn't quite up for it. But now I feel like he likely will be ready to head out of here tomorrow. That will be so wonderful. Thanks for continued prayers for us....It feels like maybe we're getting our noses out of the water.Love Janelle

Tuesday afternoon...

Sorry for the late post today...somehow the hours have gotten away from me.  First, thank you for your prayers.  Kristin seems to be doing better (this is not a firsthand account, nor have I heard from school today about her behavior).  Aside from one escape at school yesterday with a fairly quick apprehending  just outside the doors, it wasn't a bad Monday.  She definitely was markedly improved at home yesterday afternoon, evening and this morning.  Benjamin has slept much of the day.  He's not very happy when he's awake....I'm sure he must be uncomfortable with a 5 inch incision.  He did sleep pretty well.  They woke me about 3am when he  decided the nose hose had to go...so it did.  Thankfully he doesn't have to have it anymore.  We won't know for a while yet how long this hospitalization will go.  He really doesn't want to drink today, so the surgeon told me not to push it (fear not!).  

Keep up the prayers...Love, Janelle

4:15 Monday

All is well here....Above, Benjamin after he returned from the recovery room...preferring the security of his buggy over the unfamiliar hospital crib.  He was in the OR for about 2 hours and it ended up being a very good decision. He had a large section of bowel that had herniated and definitely needed to be set free. The surgeon reports that all of his bowel still looked healthy, so there wasn't a need to remove any....we're very thankful for that.  The portion that was trapped will take some time to recover so I don't know what we're looking at in terms of the hospital stay.  Didn't occur to me to ask that for now. Unfortunately the nose tube stays down until we start seeing some 'evidence' on the other end that things have resumed function.  There is also a possibility that he may need another surgery 'in a few days', but I sure hope not.  Thanks to all of you who've sent encouraging notes and offered to help in different ways. We're very blessed.  Love, janelle

PS:  I haven't heard from Krissy's school today and have decided to embrace the notion that 'no news has got to be good news'.  Maybe we should ask Jorie, Kristin's teacher to be our guest blogger.

I would just like to say at the onset that I am not the one being flaky here....Shortly after attending surgeon #1 left with his team, attending surgeon #2 showed up. He's the one who has done most of Benjamin's surgical care.  He was very definite that we needed to take care of this today and within the hour, we were on the way to the OR where he is now.  He said if everything goes perfect, it will be about 1 1/2 hours.  Thanks for praying that the problem will be quickly identified and easily fixed.  Also a very rapid recovery would be nice as life at home was pretty challenging already with 2 parents there.  Now Larry is having to cope with alot there during the day/evening and work at night.  We really want him to stay well too.  Thankfully Molly had Krissy all ready for school when Larry arrived home from work, so they took right off with her, dropping Jamie off on the way.  Larry said there was absolutely no problem with her going to her class (thank you God) and her TA will ride the bus home with her this afternoon.  Jamie will then watch her until Larry gets up.  We're very thankful for our friend Malana who is able to take David back and forth to rehearsals this week....these are up in Washougal, so it's quite a drive and I'm not sure how we would be able to manage that.

I'll let you all know later what they've found and how Benjamin is doing.  Thanks for your prayers for our family.

Love janelle

Good Morning,

Benjamin had an ok night...he's a little restless between the arm restraints and the big tube down his nose.  The surgeon just visited and said that we would give him 48 hrs (24 of which are now gone) to see if this somehow reverses itself.  Of course if he gets sicker they'll intervene sooner, but we'd all be very happy if he could get thru this without another operation.

Meanwhile Krissy didn't have a very good night.  Molly said she woke up around 3pm, yelling to open the door.  Molly put a note (and snack) under the door saying that she could get up when it was light out, so she stayed in til around 6 I think.  But then it was a pretty volatile morning.  I am really hoping that we can get her into the routine at school.  I think even though she doesn't want to go, getting into a structured routine will help her as much as anything and I also don't want to continue to reward her bad behavior with being able to have a free-for-all at home.  

I think she needs more prayer than Benjamin today, but thankfully we/you don't have to pick only one!  We really do believe that God hears our prayers...we've seen that over and over and we certainly are in a place of need on a variety of fronts.

I hope your week goes well.  I'd love to hear from you.  Jamie is now gone for the day and Benjamin won't talk to me, so your notes are appreciated :o)

Love Janelle

Hi again,

Sorry for the delay for those of you following a play by play of our current crisis.  We are fairly settled into a room on the surgical floor here at Doernbecher.  Benjamin is sleeping at the moment.  It's hard for him to get comfortable with the big tube down his nose and the arm restraints on that prevent him bending at the elbow.  If we were to  remove them, he'd have that tube pulled out very quickly.  My reflexes are pretty fast, having been primed extensively this week at home, but I will relax more without having to dive for the crib every time I see his hand twitch.

When we arrived in the room, the surgery resident came and again said that he didn't know if the attending surgeon was going to come in...he had told him that I requested it, but apparently the guy was non-commital.  So I told him that I was sorry that he was in the middle, but I was insisting that this guy come in tonight and look at him and I would be calling frequently to make sure that this happened.  I also suggested that he could call me if he would prefer, so we could talk about my concerns that way.   I really hate to get pushy, but when 'nice' doesn't work, we have to do what's best for the little boy, right?  Our nurse was completely supportive and so she decided to go and page the attending surgeon and he said "oh yeah, I'm coming up at 7:30".  So why didn't you just tell the other guy this several hours ago and save us all some time........

Anyway, in the mean time, I e-mailed the surgeon we trust most in Cincinnati, who almost always answers e-mail day or night, weekday or weekend, withiin 15 minutes...he was right on track tonight and ended up being reassuring that these obstructions do, sometimes resolve themselves with decompressing the bowel by using the tube down the nose.  He hated to create more scar tissue operating if there was a chance it might resolve, so with what they both said, I felt that it was reasonable for us to see what happens over the hours ahead. 

Meanwhile back at the ranch (or is it the funny farm?)  Kristin is finally down for the night.  She had a much better day, but was escalating by this evening.  When Larry went to put her to bed, he discovered that when she had chiseled some wood out of the door casing (this was apparently her early morning job today) she had actually cut thru one of the electirical wires and disabled the electronic lock on her door.  Bad combination...Mom in the hospital, Larry going to work, Krissy with a door that won't lock.  So, our neighbor Roger came over to make a strategic plan .  Our good friends Jim and Erin have been praying for us and in fact Jim had stopped by this morning and looked at Kristin's room.  He had noticed that she had bent an electrial cover part way off too, so when I called Erin about the door, she said Jim was already planning to come over to take care of that.  He graciously agreed to go shopping for Larry (who couldn't leave Kristin to go to the store and he definitely didn't want to take her with him as things had begun to deteriorate by this time)....then came and fixed both things.  I hear he got a glimpse into what we've been dealing with. I haven't actually heard the specifics but I think Krissy tried to snag a hammer from Jim .  She was not at all intimidated by an officer of the law, and took him on over it, no doubt envisioning how this could expidite her demolition project.  From what I hear, she's a sore loser.

We're so thankful for differnt ones that were willing to stay the night so Larry could go to work...Cindy (who had to leave for work at 5:30 am), Mom, Susan....but Molly ended up drawing the short straw.  Seriously we're so thankful that she was willing to do this.  She has college tomorrow, but thankfully it doesn't start until mid-morning, so Lord willing Krissy will sleep well (she certainly had a late start tonight)  Meanwhile, my dear friend Susan came and had gone shopping for Jamie and I, delivering all sorts of nutritious and non-nutritious items to keep us fed.  

Please pray especially for Molly as she will need to get Krissy up and ready for school tomorow.  Larry plans to drive her there when he gets home, dropping Jamie (who's here with me in the hospital overnight) off in time for her pre-calculus exam at Mt. Hood C.C.

I think that's about all I know for tonight.  I'll try and post in the morning as things become clearer where we're going to go with this.

Thanks for your continued prayers,

Janelle

2:10....just got back from xray. He's definitely got a bowel obstruction.  Surgeons are on the way.  He's happy at the moment, but the Dr. mentioned starting an IV and doing lab work, so that may change soon.  Continue praying...

janelle

I really didn't plan to write again today...however...  I am currently in the Emergency Dept. at Doernbecher with Benjamin.   When I posted earlier he wasn't up yet, so I was unaware that he was ill.  Our biggest concern is that he has a bowel obstruction since his symptoms are the same as when this happened in January.  I'll try and put a note up later when we have an official diagnosis, but would sure appreciate your prayers.  I am trying to look at the days ahead and see what I can get off the calendar...as I mentioned earlier this is David's dress rehearsal week up in Washougal (last bowel obstruction occurred during dress rehearsal for Narnia).  I also had an important meeting with the school district re. bus safety for Kristin on Tuesday as well as being scheduled to do an autism presentation for children's ministries at Good Shepherd Communicty Church that day, so pray that all details that need to work out will, and certainly that Kristin's day will continue to be fairly peaceful.  Larry worked all night and was still up helping get us packed and out the door about noon. Anne was a big help with Kris and Cindy is now there for the afternoon to care for her.  I got an honorable excused absence from the parent meeting at the theater as well as getting a last minute ride for David.  So now we take a deep breath and wait for his xray and try to avoid more germs here.  The doctor was repeatedly coughing when he was in here (get out already!). Jamie is here with me to help.

Thanks for praying~Love janelle

Good Morning,Well...we're all ok here. It's been a rough few days. You guys must be praying...she's doing pretty well so far this morning. Yesterday definitely started out better than Friday (still the winner for the "VERY BAD DAY" award) but deteriorated to the point of making it a close second.Larry was sleeping (or trying to) and the older girls were gone to rehearsal and to our friends house afterwards (I agreed to this since I didn't see how I could go and pick them up anyway). Thankfully Molly was here for about 8 hrs and she and I saw Kristin seeming to really benefit from 90 minutes or so in the pool. I was in with her and except for a few moments we don't need to go into here, she did pretty well (I wish there was longer benefit afterwards). We're not sure what all happened after we returned home that set her off, but by the time Cindy arrived for us to go to church, she was really a mess. Molly was to be off at 5:00 but offered to stay (it really takes a 2nd person (or even 3 or 4 at times) to try and keep everyone safe especially Benjamin who's a sitting duck). The two of them handled it well... Krissy was asleep and Benjamin was happy when we got home.  I sometimes feel like no one should have to deal with this degree of intensity, but God knows we can't do it without breaks I think....so He sent us Molly and Cindy...thanks...it was good to be at church.  We had a family pow wow and prayer time after dinner.  Anne spent time carefully wrapping up fragile things that might be spotted and Jamie told me I could call her if needed during the night.  

Thanks for continued prayer support...it's a busy week ahead.  We move into the theater this afternoon for High School Musical 2, David's show.  He has dress rehearsals every night this week and  11 shows starting Friday night.  Krissy has permission to attend dress rehearsal Thursday evening (Molly and I will wear our running shoes) but things will need to turn around some before wisdom would dictate us attempting that. 

Blessings to you all,

Janelle

You know how sometimes things seem bad, and then things get worse and you say "and I thought THAT was bad!"  I think we're probably in the middle of one of the worst days we've ever had with Kristin.  We got up very early as Larry heard ?? disturbing sounds coming from her room that caused him to think that it might be better to look sooner rather than later.  She had approxitmately 6 times more damage than what was previously done.  In fact huge sheets of FRP were pulled off the wall, lying over her bed and she was underneath them as though they were her blankets.  We really feel bad at the terrible waste this is of hard work and resources.  However we did all we could to tell them about her 'potential' and either that wasn't taken seriously enough and/or conveyed to the people doing the work.  We still believe that it would probably be best to just take off what's left and go with our original idea of putting up wood over the plywood.  The handyman is due to arrive (I hope he hasn't forgotten) sometime this afternoon (though it's nearly 4pm now).

Anyway...back to today, I am so thankful Larry is home.  Kris was really out of control and just unstrung, screaming, trying to get out, etc. etc.  It was all both of us could do to manage her.  I cancelled the bus and we both drove she and Jamie...first dropping off Jamie at Mt. Hood CC and then going to Krissy's school.  It was a special event day with a dance, karaoke, root beer floats, etc.  I thought I'd see if getting her into the classroom routine would help and I had already written to the teacher offering to come back this afternoon to help.  It didn't go well at all and as I told the staff "I really have my doubts that this is going to be successful".  It wasn't.  I decided pretty quickly that we couldn't leave her in that condition.  Her classroom staff is all so supportive and kind, we're very blessed to have her there....but today she needed to be at home.  There was alot of drama in the house for several hours...I don't even want to talk about it, but suffice it to say we were considering taking her to the hospital to have her admitted...it was, by anyone's standard, over the top.  I felt like if we could get her into the pool at the gym it would calm her, but Jamie had major reservations and told me she thought we should go for a drive instead.  So...we did.  We got her fries and white pop at the local drive thru and headed up the Columbia Gorge Scenic Hwy.  She was sleepy at first, cried quite abit (probably some drug reaction from something we'd given her earlier trying to calm her down) but all in all, she did seem to be pretty content.  We saw several waterfalls and it was a beautiful ride...I think it was therapeutic for Jamie and I too.  She really is better since we got home.  Please please pray for her (and us).  Most of you know we have tried some of the psychiatric medications with her in the past.  We haven't found one that hasn't had really negative side effects for her.  Even though the past few days and especially today have been difficult, Larry and I would both like to see if we can just get thru it, knowing she'll probably cycle out of this awful anxiety before long.  We just can't see drugging her 24/7 when she really has  2-3 months between these really hard times.  Thanks for your prayers for grace and strength and protection.  I worry about Ben getting caught in the flight path of flying toys....I took a particularly heavy airborne one to the knee cap today and I'd do it again in a second instead of him getting it in the head, but oh my, it hurt.   It's very hard to put away everything that can be thrown or broken.  

Benjamin is feeling punk still and I know it's just been 24 hrs. since we started medication...it takes 2-3 days at least for him to start to perk up.  All of the screaming is pretty hard on him too.

A dear friend who I previously planned to have lunch with today (but cancelled due to circumstances) called while we were on our drive and said she was bringing some dinner over.  So kind and another blessing for us today.  I'm so thankful if this had to happen that it was a day that Larry was home and awake.

More soon, no doubt.....love, janelle

Well, it's been a few days since I posted...it's not that things have been that quiet here.  We would appreciate your prayers.  Kristin is in one of her cycles again where she is particularly difficult and destructive.  You can tell she has alot of anxiety going on, though we aren't sure really of the reasons.  I think it's likely hormonal, in which case maybe she'll be better in a few days. I hope so.  A number of things have been broken the last few days including some further damage to her new room.  She's also been a problem on the bus.  On Monday the driver was quite upset.  Kris had not only tossed her backpack thru the air while the bus was moving, but Barney apparently connected with the driver's head when she threw him (Barney, not the driver) too.  I don't think she probably was intentionally trying to hit Kelley, more just that he was in the flight path.  I had a call this afternoon that she got out of control on the am bus today, screaming and trying to open the rear emergency door.  This bus has a 60 something year old driver with cancer.  I've been worried about both her and the afternoon driver, a very nice man, but definitely not someone who I believe has adequate trouble shooting skills to take Krissy on when it's a bad day.  Anyway, she again was agitated when it was time to come home, so her teacher decided to ride along with her to make sure she was safe.  Thank you Jorie....we really appreciate that.  We're hoping that the school district will see fit to put a chaperone on the bus with her routinely to insure her safety. 

Thanks too for remembering Benjamin.  He's been out of school over 3 weeks now, the last 2 he's been totally fine, but we have kept him out to let him get his immunity in place against H1N1.  Finally I was going to send him back on Wednesday...and then he just had a restless night on Tuesday, so I decided "I'll keep him home one more day".  By the end of the day he was gagging again and declining fluids...much the same as the illness that has recurred since August.  He's clearly sick, so I called our pediatrician's office right away this morning and thankfully even though our Dr. was out, his colleague agreed to phone out the antibiotic that's needed.  I found a nice pharmacy that was so accommodating in making it up so he's already had his first dose.  We're hopeful we can avoid a hospitalization again.  I also spoke with the GI department at Doernbecher and we're working on getting him scheduled for some testing to see if there is something that needs to be done to keep this from recurring so frequently. Poor little boy.

On a happier note, David passed his drivers license test this morning with a 90%, so he was pleased.  He's busy, both with college work and moving into the theater this weekend.  The show he's in opens a week from tomorrow night.

Ok...I think I'm tired now...Larry took an extra shift last night, so that means he just has one night off now before going back for 6 in a row.  

Hope you are well, staying well or getting well~ Love janelle