He's feeling lots better this morning and does NOT want to be in that crib any more.  He really doesn't want to be in the stroller either, but is semi-content watching a movie from there now. Knowing how many germs are on the floors of hospitals, I just can't in good conscience let him get down or walk around...I know he'd end up sitting down.  I already have a pile of laundry...things that have been dropped on the floor etc.  If we're going home today,  it'll keep...I don't really like using the hospital laundry room to wash clothes either...call me 'germ phobic'...probably true.  

He has taken about 7 oz. already today and it's not set him off again, so I'm hopeful that he's really turned the corner and we can get home....today!  

Doernbecher

I'm hoping to settle down here and get some sleep while Benjamin does the same.  We arrived at the hospital this morning and after about 3 hrs. in the Emergency Room, we finally got into a regular hospital room.  Benjamin needed some fluids and is already looking better this evening.  He wants to leave so bad...I feel sorry for him.  He's trying to do all he can to let me know what he wants (i.e. holding onto his backpack, trying to climb out of the crib and his buggy). Poor little guy. The left photo was taken early this morning.  Jamie was sitting with him where he had decided to rest, right in the middle of the kitchen floor, while I got a shower.  Then there is one above of him here, once he got feeling a bit perked up with the fluids.  Then up top is the hospital white board in our room.  I couldn't resist putting my goals for Benjamin on it, first thing when we arrived.   

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Larry arrived home from work this morning with a new cold, so he is at home tonight with the kids.  We hear Kristin had a great day with Melissa at our house.  

It's been a really long day, telling and re-telling our story a number of times.  One of these was with a 2nd year medical student.  I was part way thru a rather detailed history of Benjamin's various surgeries when he stopped me and said "maybe you could help me learn...can you tell me what an ostomy is?"  I paused for a moment trying to calculate how much of the information I had just drenched him with probably didn't make much sense.  That just wasn't a question I would have seen coming.

Ok...I'm really going to try and get the lights out here before midnight.  I had a wonderful visit with my friend and former boss Susie this evening.  She came up and spent several hours visiting with me and brought me cookies she had baked....then took me over to the cafeteria for dinner late this evening.  I had missed lunch too, so I was ready for something healthy.   Benjamin was sound asleep when we returned.  

Rest well...I'll update you again soon!

Love janelle

5:50 am

Thanks for praying for Benjamin today.  We were suspicious when he went to sleep much earlier than usual on Thursday evening.  However when he got up yesterday, he drank about 4 oz and seemed ok, other than the cough/sinus symptoms we've been dealing with for a month.  He went to school but by mid-morning his teacher was calling concerned about him.  When we heard he was currently sleeping, I called the Dr's office and Larry headed out the door.  He went from school to  the pediatrician's office to the hospital for xrays and then home. Benjamin really didn't seem well and by middle of the afternoon we felt like he probably needed to have some lab work done to see if his lethargy was due to dehydration.  So Larry took him back to the hospital while I took the older kids to CYT rehearsal.  We both arrived back home just a bit before Rod (sister Dianne's husband from Alaska) arrived for dinner.  We tried to give Benj a little fluid (primarily pediatlyte) but the smallest amt, even his binky set him off into a wretching jag.  The pediatrician called during the evening with lab results (mild dehydration....as of 4 pm yest).  Jamie stayed up with him until 2am, then let me know she was going to bed.  I woke up hourly with him coughing/gagging and finally gave up sleeping around 5:15.  He was awake and wanted out of his crib.  I'm planning to take him up to the hospital as I've no doubt that he now needs IV fluids.  Thanks for your prayers for him today.  It would be wonderful if they could easily get his IV started and some fluids should help him start feeling better right away.  This doesn't look like a surgical issue or anything related to what the surgery is planned for....just one of those things that most can weather at home, but Benjamin just can't keep up on fluids on his own.  Larry went back to work last night for a 6 night stretch....thankfully I had help lined up already for Kristin thinking that Benjamin might be in the hospital this weekend for his previously scheduled surgery...so that's a blessing not to have to worry about scrambling things together today.  I'll keep you posted.  Love Janelle & all 

Good Evening...Just wanted to let you know that Benjamin's surgery has been postponed for about 10 days.  That should give him time to be treated for this sinus problem and hopefully the cough will resolve along with it. He's now scheduled for his operation Feb 8th (Monday) in the early afternoon.  We got the pre-op stuff done today at Emanuel, so we're set.  

Krissy is currently very interested in planning an escape from her room.  She's trying to stash screwdrivers and apparently shared with Anne today (when I was gone) her plan to go to Target and get some other things.  It was interesting how elaborate her planning was...she knows exactly where she wants to go and what she wants to get.  She's happy and pretty cooperative, but we're watching her closely.  I think she's just finding it fun to plan an adventure, much like we do when we think of going on a trip.  She's wanting to get to the park as well, so I think if we can start taking her to some of these places, maybe she won't be thinking of doing it solo.   

She is continuing to be so happy at her new school...her teacher is a great communicator and I get a lengthy note each day.  

Larry signed up for an extra shift tonight, so he'll just have one night off this week.  We're thankful for the opportunity for some extra hours.  Our brother in law Rod is in town for a few days, so we're looking forward to some time with him Friday evening.

Have a great 2nd half of the week...Love janelle

So...you hear from me twice in one day~

I couldn't resist sharing this picture with you.  Mom and I were heading for the gym (really) but Jamie wanted to go to Borders, so Mom and I decided to go into Bed Bath & Beyond to check out the massage chair cushions (again....I did this several days ago).  Thirty minutes later we were quite relaxed and enjoying rotating thru the 3 different models.  We're a little short for them, so I had mosey'd on over to the bath towel section and snagged a few of those to give us a bit of elevation.  We sat and talked about how we could bring books and maybe have lunch delivered next time we do this :o)  Those back cushions have heat in them too....it was so nice!  I'm getting to answering your question of why Kristin appears to have a whisk in her hair...Right next to the massage chair display, there was a rack loaded with HEAD MASSAGERS.  So we tried it out and thought "This is nice".  It actually does resemble a wisk, except the end of the thing is open and the wires have something like teflon on them so they don't scratch your head.  Krissy likes it quite alot (can you tell?)  Jamie thought it was a little weird, Benjamin is definitely a no-go.  David thinks it's good.  All I have to do is pick it up off the table and make one step towards Anne and she is outta here.  I'm so excited, I told her that her new punishment will be 10 reps of the whisk.

 So if you don't live near a BB & B, and have decided after this infomercial that you need one, just let me know..only $3.99 plus s/h (actually no handling charge :o) 

Yes, we did finally make it to the gym and had our walk.  Just the little kids and me here now (Dad is sleeping upstairs) as the older 3 just headed out the door for CYT.

Have a nice evening~ Love, Janelle

Happy Tuesday~

Just checking in on the blog in case you are too...Things are going well.  We've been noticing and appreciating (read: breathing a sigh of relief) how much more settled Kristin is.  She is always happy about going to school and consistently comes home content.  Not to say she isn't BUSY, but we can do busy.  Just a wonderful breath of fresh air to have her in this environment that apparently is such a good fit for her.  We see her getting cranked up once in awhile...clues like the vibrato in her singing becomes much more pronounced (not to mention increased volume!), but even when she does get upset, her recovery time is dramatically shorter.  In other words, a meltdown doesn't mean we're facing an entire bad day/week.  We've seen a turnaround in a matter of minutes.  

I am so thankful too for a real break from the headaches I was having.  It became clear that my neck was the primary source of these, and I found the chiropractor has been a great help. I have now had 4 or 5 days of feeling back to my 'old self' (it's an expression, ok???) 

As I mentioned in a previous post, Benjamin is scheduled for his surgery this Friday.  However...he has had a morning cough and sinus symptoms since late December and we noticed an increase in his cough over the weekend.  I kept him out of school yesterday and we went to the pediatrician.  Of course he wouldn't cough for him, but he wanted us to try an antihistimine to see if drying him up some would lessen the cough.  If not, he wants a chest xray.  He barely coughed the rest of the day, but was pretty barky early this morning again. I sent him to school anyway!  He's not sick and the Dr. didn't feel he had an infection.  I think we will keep his pre-op visit with his surgeon tomorrow, but am all but positive he will not be able to have general anesthesia on Friday.  We can reschedule in February, but we see that this really does need to be corrected soon as he partially gets obstructed by this stricture every so often.  On a different not, with Larry and I going to Mexico in March, I want him to have plenty of opportunity to recover so we won't have post operative complications to worry about.  Jamie's so cute....she, in an effort to be reassuring told me a while back "Mom, David can drive and we know what to do.  We can take him to the hospital if we need to." Yikes...don't scare me like that.  

Speaking of our older kids, who get very little press coverage :o)....Anne has done a nice job working hard in school lately.  She, along with the others are again enjoying getting into their CYT classes and rehearsals for the spring show.  David and Jamie have settled into heavier academic loads at Mt Hood Community College for winter term and seem to be able to handle college course work fine.  Both of them did well last semester and we are finding this program to be a good fit.  

Well, I'm off to do some errands.  Mom and I are trying to get to the gym when the little kids are at school to get some walking and bike riding in.  It gives us some time together to visit too and we always enjoy that.  

It's another beautiful sunny (and almost warm) day here in Gresham....finally enough of us at home and awake with no rain, so we can get the thank you picture taken with our new car for my aunt and uncle.  Krissy isn't home and Benjamin was camera shy....at least until he started dreaming about being behind the wheel :o)

Quack Quack

 

It was such a beautiful day here.  It's been nice to have a break from the rain.  Benjamin and Krissy have both been in school since Tuesday.  With Benj missing so much of the fall, it still seems so strange to have them both gone during the day.  Mom and I went to the gym this morning and worked out.  Early afternoon, I headed up to Vancouver with Jamie for her voice lesson.  I had a doctor appt at 3pm, but when I arrived they said they had left 2 messages and needed to reschedule my appointment (I am not so good about checking our home messaging machine).  Meanwhile Jamie had gotten the little kids off their busses and all was well at home. We decided it was a nice day to go feed the ducks and I had a big bag of food for them in the freezer.  Jamie and Krissy walked to the lake while David and I follow along in the car.  The ducks were very happy to see us.  I have to repeatedly remind Krissy NOT to eat the duck food....I don't know why she wants to...it's usually old crusts or something.  After unloading all of that, we all took off for the car wash.  From the crowd of cars there, I think the sunshine must inspire people to get out and get their cars cleaned up.  Enjoy the pictures of our outing in the sunshine~

Barney's Birthday

It's only fitting that this post is done in purple.  Kristin and Benjamin's favorite video of late (how many weeks???) has been Barney's Birthday (Authors note: This could be the cause of persistent and recurring migraines) Anyway, in the event that you haven't had the opportunity to see this fine piece of entertainment, the kids all work together to decorate a cake for Barney.  It's quite a production and I've been telling Kristin that we will make a cake like that.  It's probably best that you can't see what it is suppose to look like, but this is close enough to make Krissy very pleased with it.  She however will not let us eat it, at least for now.  It seems to be listing to the west a bit as it sits on the table, so maybe we'll get to sample it before the afternoon is over.  Our friend Missy is here helping us today since she doesn't have college classes today either.   Back to school for everyone tomorrow! 

A quick note as I really need to get Benjamin up and ready for school...Kristin's MD appt was at 5pm yesterday...Larry & I were both able to attend with her.  It was about an hour long and she got to play with a number of toys.  The Dr. even got her paintbrush and water so that she could do some water color painting (mostly of her own hands).  Dr. Sabin has a great deal of experience with children like Kristin and asks many insightful questions.  We came away feeling like she's up to speed on how things are right now and it was good to talk over some possible options if they are necessary later.  We are both very comfortable that she isn't a person who aggressively pushes medication at all...in fact she agreed with us that it doesn't seem like a step we need to consider right now.  It seems that Krissy has alot of difficulty in certain environments that she feels overwhelmed with...but she isn't by an means, out of control all of the time.  We saw that over Christmas break we went a full 3 weeks without a meltdown, so this was encouraging.  We're also seeing that she's doing well generally in her new school.  I think she is testing and finding where the boundaries are, but she never is resistent to going and seems happy there.  

Time for me to go get the little boy up.  Our older kids have auditions today for the winter show...I get anxiety just thinking about all these brave kids that get up today and sing all alone. Then the weekend of drama...waiting for the call back list, waiting for the cast list....

Have a wonderful weekend...an extended one for some of us/you!

 

Hi...Our week is off to a pretty good start..actually I just realized I need to read Krissy's journal from school today before I make rash statements like that.   She apparently spent 35 minutes in seclusion yesterday (aka padded room) and actually seemed quite calm when she came home from school.  I told one of my friends that I think maybe I should see if I could book a reservation in that room for myself...sort of like a tanning salon...you go in, lie down and wait for the timer to go off.   And speaking of salons, it was time for a trim up for Kristin, so we went to see our friend Lacey this afternoon after school.  Kris had a hard time sitting still, but eventually we got it done.  

I've just looked in her folder and see that her teachers and class from her former school have sent her cards and best wishes at her new school.  Some of the kids drew pictures for her and their letters are so sweet...as you can see they know what speaks to her :o)  Goofy girl~

Good Morning,Krissy had a good 'rest of the week' at school...the notes home from the teacher each day always provide some humor (and occasional groans).

Anne had her first MAJOR haircut yesterday, and was glad she could send a 10 inch braid to 'Locks of Love' while she was at it. I told her that her hair hasn't been this short since she was 3 or 4. She is totally happy with it and we all agree that it looks nice (this was a little hard on us, but it was time to let this be her decision....nice we all like the outcome :o)

On a thankful and very excited note, Larry and I were given a week in Cabo San Lucas in March. We're so thankful to have this week of rest and refreshment to look forward to. Larry would have had to request March time off work by Sept 1 of last year, and we knew humanly speaking it was unlikely to find coverage over Spring Break. But, the 4 nights he was scheduled that week were quickly covered by others and he now has the entire time off.  

Hope you have a wonderful weekend~ Love Janelle

Hello again....

I wanted to let you know that Krissy had a good first day at her new school yesterday.  She was very excited to go from the time she got up.  Her bus buddy Kris, parks her car at our house about 7:25, then rides to/from school with Krissy.  I think it was a good sign that Kristin was quite eager to be going back again today.

Larry, Jamie, Kristin and I were able to visit Pathways Community School on Tuesday afternoon.  There weren't any kids there at 4pm (contributing to the nice peaceful environment we experienced!) and that ended up being a great opportunity for Kris and us to be able to stroll thru the building.  They have such a nice set up with a great sensory room, lots of different options for activities, a cute little cafeteria and a beautiful gym area (formerly the Gresham Roller Rink for any of you older folks like me who skated there as kids).  There isn't any outdoor play option, which I am grateful for.  Her class has 10 kids and 12 staff.  She gets to go to the gym 3 times a day (2 informal times, 1 PE) where they have 'bikes', scooters and all sorts of fun things to do.  We came away feeling very comfortable with the environment and seeing how much more suited to Kristin's need it is, rather than a large regular school.  

A very wonderful thing about Christmas vacation that we saw was how well she did here at home (the meltdown Saturday night at bedtime was the only one in about 3 weeks ).  As you know we were waiting for an appointment with the MD to see about getting some medication for her.   We are much more content now to delay and hopefully avoid going there if having her in an environment where she's happy and not overwhelmed (with hundreds of students around and frequent transitions with class/location changes), takes care of much of the behavior issues they were seeing at her former school.  Thanks for continuing to pray for her as she transitions and hopefully settles into a happy routine at Pathways.  

The picture is a collage poster Krissy and I worked on this week.  She loves printing LOTS of pictures off of the computer.  We're thankful that her funding provides ink and paper!

Oh yes, a headache update.  I almost forgot because I don't have one.  Yesterday I got into a chiropractor that I've gone to before who's been very helpful.  I had tried to get in over the Christmas holidays, but he was out.  ANYWAY.....I told him it feels like my neck is somehow very involved with these headaches.  He seemed genuinely amazed at how bad my neck was. They did some electrical stim therapy on my neck and then he adjusted it.  I felt so much better and still do.  Wish I had started there 4 weeks ago..... I am scheduled to go back tomorrow and want to make sure I'm where I need to be...he's not the kind who keeps you coming back unneccessarily, but as off as things were, he wanted me back once more this week.  I will keep my appt with the neurologist in 2 weeks to follow up on the MRI even if the headaches are completely resolved.  

I kept Benjamin home from school today.  He sounded like he was borderline croupy this morning before he got up.   I couldn't send him off to school that way....and I have now heard nothing since he got up.  He's happily playing (hookie!!) with his toys in the living room. Sorry Merrie....maybe tomorrow~

More news before long, no doubt~ Janelle

Hi,

Just a brief note to let you know that Krissy seems pretty much back to herself today (the reason why this needs to be brief!) She is up and around, VERY active and apparently happy to be well into her 3rd week of vacation.  We sure appreciate your prayers for her transition into her new school this week (Wednesday, first day). I'm hoping to go and visit tomorrow to scope out the safety aspects and hopefully identify any potential (knowing Kristin) weak points. 

For those of you wondering about my MRI, I don't have a definitive answer.  I got one of those Saturday morning phone calls from the doctor saying "it's preeeeettttty much normal" but went on to read some observations that he doesn't know the significance of or if it's nothing.  So that along with of the atypical migraines that I continue to have (this is over 3 weeks now and almost daily) he's referred me to a neurologist.  I may be wrong, but I think whatever questions he has about the MRI are probably incidental and not related to the headaches. I have an appt in 2-3 weeks.  I don't have a brain tumor, which he definitely reassured me about, so that's good news.  Thanks for your prayers as I try and cope with these somewhat debilitating headaches and keep up with the home front.  Larry has been wonderful in helping alot and I think it was very nice of the Lord to smite him with a cold so that he couldn't go to work (enough to keep him from working with the babies but not feeling bad) during part of this physically difficult time for me :o) We have alot of fun in our home, but the activity level is certainly enough to keep 2 adults from ever getting bored, so for him to be awake and alert has certainly lightened my load. 

As Winnie the Pooh would say, "it's a very blustery day out" here in Gresham.  Hope you are safe and warm and dry!

Love janelle

Thanks for praying for Krissy...she definitely hasn't been herself today.  I think this is probably pretty normal for post concussion, but she's been quieter and lying down alot, curled up on the sofa.  I told her we'd go to the doctor tomorrow if she's not feeling better. She says her head and stomach are sick and we believe her.  I so hope that a lesson will be learned for her in this.

I'll plan to post again tomorrow and let you know how she's feeling.  She has a couple more days of vacation, probably a good thing.  I wouldn't want to try and send her feeling like she does.

David and Jamie return to Mt Hood Community College tomorrow to start winter term.  They both are on a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule this term (thank you!) which should make transportation a little easier on mom.  David is very willing to begin driving them, and it probably won't be long before that can happen.

Anne has worked hard over Christmas break on her school work and is doing a good job.  Her regular session begins again tomorrow, and Benjamin also returns to school (I hope!!)

Rest well,

Janelle

Happy New Year

Warmest Greetings in this brand new year~

Our blog seems to be event (or is it 'crisis'?) driven.  I realize we've had a pretty peaceful Christmas holiday if you've not heard from us for quite awhile.  We had a really nice Christmas with family here.  We had both Grandma's here for cinnamon rolls and our Christmas morning festivities.  Later in the day Larry's sister Linda, and her husband Ray came and we enjoyed dinner and time together.  Krissy had a great time.  Linda and Ray had snagged a 3' tall musical Goofy at their neighbor's garage sale....that was a huge hit with Krissy.  We have been battling the effects of cold weather chapped lips and skin for Krissy (explanation for why she looks like she does in the photos).  Thankfully Rick Phipps, our friend and local dermatologist was able to see her on the 23rd, the last day he was in the office for the year, and gave us some medication to help.  If only we could talk her into not rubbing it off....

We got to have a brief visit with our friends, the Deffinbaugh's yesterday morning when they were in town.  Krissy was very excited to see them again.  I guess we had done our quota of days without drama, so last night it was our turn.  Krissy had a pretty good day, but was showing some signs of agitation.  As per our usual routine, our faithful sitter Cindy was here with Kris & Benjamin while we went to church.  When we got home, she said that Krissy had really escalated shortly before bedtime.  She had gotten her to her room where Krissy proceeded to scream and bang on the door.  When we arrived home, she had quieted down considerably.  After Cindy left, we heard Krissy crying, and then more screaming, so I figured she was just 'over the top' upset still.  Jamie went down and I sent one of the pills we use, maybe once a month or so. It's a blood pressure pill that the Dr. gave us for when she's really upset, to just calm her down some.  Jamie gave that to her, but came up and said that Krissy was saying her head hurt and some of what she was saying wasn't making sense (different from her baseline).  I went down and saw that her forhead was very red and immediately realized that she must have been butting the door with her head....it's not too unusual for her to bang on it if she's upset, and we'd have no way of knowing if she was using her head or hands or feet.  Anyway, we were very concerned at the apparent horrific headache she had...she was crying and asking us to squeeze her head.  Larry helped get her ready and Jamie and I headed to Doernbecher (Children's Hospital) with her.  I was concerned that she may have really done some damage.  They were so nice to us...the triage nurse has a niece with autism about the same age and was just so caring.  The ER was nearly empty (who would've thought on a Saturday holiday weekend night??) and we didn't even get a chance to sit down in the waiting room before they took us back.  By this time the Clonidine had kicked in and she was very sleepy.  I felt badly for 'muddying the waters'  by having given that to her, but I did it before realizing she had a head injury.  And the great thing was, the MD was quite happy about it, because she was sedated enough to do the CT scan without starting an IV to give her sedation.  I would never have dreamed that Krissy could hold still for this....she was awake, but just very compliant with what I asked her to do.  She in fact started to get the giggles at one point.  I think she thought the 'donut machine' was pretty neat.  They said she did perfect for the scan and finaly after an hour + wait, we learned that it was negative and were able to bring her home.  They said she had a concussion and went over the usual instructions.  She zonked for the trip home and slept well thru the night.   Thank you Lord.  

Benjamin is doing well, (we're) hoping for school tomorrow.  His ostomy is functioning really well right now, so we'll see what the surgeon says this week.  

We were so encouraged last evening when Jamie was baptized and gave her testimony during the evening service.  This was something she had wanted to do for some time and they invited people, if the Lord was leading them in this step, to come.  So she did.  Very special time for us.

Catch us up on your news when you can.  Love, Janelle