O.K. so we've been planning this trip for 20 years! Bill's 20 yr reunionfor West Point is this weekend. Most of the people we will see there, we haven't seen since he graduated, we got married and moved on with our lives. They say that the Army is a small thing, and especially members of the Church in the Army...however, we have never until just this last year had anyone we knew from a previous duty station, live where we live at again. So, it has been many years since we've seen most of these people. We have a few friends that we've kept in touch with and even seen on rare occasions over the years, but for the most part, it will be the first time since graduation that we've seen his class mates.
I'm a bit nervous, and excited to see some people again. It's been a long time wince we've had the chance to catch up with old friends. AND, as an addition to all of that, we are staying with one of the families I nannied for, again. Bill hasn't seen them in abt. 14 yrs. I did get to see them last year when I went, but it will be good to see them again. We are going a day early and spending a day in the city, and we are going to see Phantom of the Opera! I' so excited! I've always wanted to see that one, but never got to. (we took a friend to see a show once, but she wanted to see Cats, and even though we'd already seen it... we went to Cats).
I am however sllightly worried about Liam, and pray that all will be well for him and for all who will help care for my kids while we are away. I worry about him daily now, and pray always that he will not have another incident, and we'll be able to stay on top of things, with the 'frequent' endoscopy, and appointments we'll have over the years, and we won't have an Emergency, like last time. On the other hand, this is now just life for us. Does it mean we should put the rest of life on hold, always, just so that we can be here personally to 'watch' every move he makes, 'in case' something happens? Honestly, if we did that, we'd all have to be hermits, and never leave the house and pad all the rooms, make him live in a plastic bubble in order to 'protect' him, and that wouldnt' be good for anyone!
Sometimes I worry that I am being a little too 'flip' and irreverant of the situation, but on the other hand, sometimes, you either have to laugh or else you'll cry. He's over all a healthy 'normal' (whatever that is!) 3 yr old little boy! He or any one we know could fall and hurt themselves, or get in some sort of accident, at any time. How is that so different? We can't live our lives in fear! We just have to keep moving forward to the best of our abilities...
And so... we're off to NY. (wish us all luck, and say a prayer or two, for my boy, and my peace of mind...).
On another note: I have never traveled so much in my life (since I was young anyway). I feel like I've taken so many trips this past calendar year... I'm sure it's a fluke, and the partying will have to come to a stop eventually... ;-)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Sick little boy - Pic's (long)
Here's Liam at home with Amanda while we finished up the birthday party for Marissa. At the time we had NO idea how sick he was about to become. Sept 12th 2009
Sept 13thWhen Liam was moved out of PICU - and moved onto the ped's floor - he was allowed more visitors. He loved when the family visited. Bill bought him some new games and books to keep us busy during the time in the hospital. This is a game of UNO - Moo! an UNO game for smaller children. It's very cute!
Liam was finally able to eat something - an all liquid diet - on Monday night after not eating anything since Friday evening. Sariah is helping get a drink of Gatorade. Here is his 'SOUP'. He was so disappointed, there were NO NOODLES in his soup! What kind of SOUP is that?!?! Poor boy! 
We took Liam's favorite stuffed animal - his Panda Bear - with us to the hospital. The girls brought him some other favorites of theirs. Nuzzle puppy is Sariah's special doggy. The other little puppy doggy was given to Liam by a nice volunteer at Huntsville Hospital. And lets not forget 
that the girls brought him up his COOKIE Monster slippers (he got them from our neighbor - Caleb (Bob)).
When the girls came to visit they thought it was interesting that Liam has been put in 'his' room. The room number matched his birth date - 4(April) 29th.
Here is my sick little boy - his Arm all taped up to the Arm boards to hold it straight so he didn't bend and hurt the I.V's he had in his arm. They left the stickers to hook up the heart monitors even after we got unhooked from them to go to the ped's floor.
Sept 14th 2009 When they came to get us for the CT scan they gave him a wagon ride down to Radiology. It is supposed to make it a bit more fun, however, Liam was unimpressed!
Dad and the boy taking a walk and trying to stretch his legs a little bit - as well as get some activity and a change of scenery. They made it to the nurses station.
He didn't even want to go play in the game room after he walked all that way, he was so worn out.
Liam was finally able to eat something - an all liquid diet - on Monday night after not eating anything since Friday evening. Sariah is helping get a drink of Gatorade. Here is his 'SOUP'. He was so disappointed, there were NO NOODLES in his soup! What kind of SOUP is that?!?! Poor boy! We took Liam's favorite stuffed animal - his Panda Bear - with us to the hospital. The girls brought him some other favorites of theirs. Nuzzle puppy is Sariah's special doggy. The other little puppy doggy was given to Liam by a nice volunteer at Huntsville Hospital. And lets not forget that the girls brought him up his COOKIE Monster slippers (he got them from our neighbor - Caleb (Bob)).When the girls came to visit they thought it was interesting that Liam has been put in 'his' room. The room number matched his birth date - 4(April) 29th. Here is my sick little boy - his Arm all taped up to the Arm boards to hold it straight so he didn't bend and hurt the I.V's he had in his arm. They left the stickers to hook up the heart monitors even after we got unhooked from them to go to the ped's floor.Sept 14th 2009 When they came to get us for the CT scan they gave him a wagon ride down to Radiology. It is supposed to make it a bit more fun, however, Liam was unimpressed! Dad and the boy taking a walk and trying to stretch his legs a little bit - as well as get some activity and a change of scenery. They made it to the nurses station.He didn't even want to go play in the game room after he walked all that way, he was so worn out.When Liam had enough energy and as an incentive to get him to let them draw blood, or for him to take med's we'd offer for him to go to the game room with dad. he liked playing the touch screen games. He could do that with his left hand and manage to win, since his right hand was all taped up.
We noticed after the first night he had started retaining fluid a bit. I tried to take a picture of his poor little/big belly, but he wasn't playing my games at that point! He tried to cover his head and turn away from me... ;-( By Tuesday it was so tight and swollen. his belly button was stretched completely flat (almost like a pregnant belly).
The Dr's never seemed to terribly concerned about it, bit we were a bit worried, since we have too vivid a memory of our little guy last time when he had all the '3rd space fluid' (when your organs don't function well because they/you are sick, your body pushes a lot of the extra fluid (and he got a LOT of fluid from all the I.V.'s he had been given) out into the tissues of the body. Last time he literally swelled nearly twice his size! from 7 lbs up to 12 lbs in a week). http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1989/46946/hospital_stay.htm
In this picture you can see some of books and games that we brought in (or bought) for Liam. When the girls came to visit, Life didn't necessarily stop just because we were in the hospital for the week. Sariah is working hard on her schoolwork. (with a little help from dad)
Tired and worn out after a long day... (or night).
Tuesday night he was able to have actual food. He decided he didn't want noodles (in soup). I ordered whatever I could think of that was soft. He liked the rice and ate a lot of it, the mac n' cheese was pretty good. The mashed potatoes??? He claimed that they were "Yucky Stuff!"
Wednesday morning was pretty much spent just waiting around to get the ultrasound of his belly and to go home.
Liam likes Dinosaurs, and The Land Before Time Movies have become his favorite. We had a friend bring us a few movies to borrow, and The first Land Before Time was one of them. He would watch it and watch it, We have the first one at home, but have been able to borrow the others from the Post Library over the past months. Liam LOVES them. I liked borrowing them from the library, because, then I got a break and we were not 'forced' to watch the same movies over and over again... Well, this hospital stay ended up sending Bill to the store and he was able to buy every single one of the episodes (there are 11) for Liam. We watched all of them but one, at least one time if not more (along with a few other different movies, occasionally), but when you are trapped in bed, and can't do much, and you are so miserable... movies help to pass the time! When the nurses come in and wake you up at 2 am, to take your blood, the movies help calm you down and get you to fall back to sleep. They were well worth the price (monetarily, as well as mom's dislike of repeated movie watching...)!
We had several visitors come to see us at the hospital, and we received a few nice meals (non hospital food, yay!) from friends, while the rest of the family at home was being fed by the sweet sisters of our ward. Liam got some nice coloring books and crayons from friends, and a cute Get well soon balloon from his friend Katie - Thanks so much! He likes them now, even though he didn't show it at the time...
We noticed after the first night he had started retaining fluid a bit. I tried to take a picture of his poor little/big belly, but he wasn't playing my games at that point! He tried to cover his head and turn away from me... ;-( By Tuesday it was so tight and swollen. his belly button was stretched completely flat (almost like a pregnant belly).
The Dr's never seemed to terribly concerned about it, bit we were a bit worried, since we have too vivid a memory of our little guy last time when he had all the '3rd space fluid' (when your organs don't function well because they/you are sick, your body pushes a lot of the extra fluid (and he got a LOT of fluid from all the I.V.'s he had been given) out into the tissues of the body. Last time he literally swelled nearly twice his size! from 7 lbs up to 12 lbs in a week). http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1989/46946/hospital_stay.htmIn this picture you can see some of books and games that we brought in (or bought) for Liam. When the girls came to visit, Life didn't necessarily stop just because we were in the hospital for the week. Sariah is working hard on her schoolwork. (with a little help from dad) Tired and worn out after a long day... (or night).Tuesday night he was able to have actual food. He decided he didn't want noodles (in soup). I ordered whatever I could think of that was soft. He liked the rice and ate a lot of it, the mac n' cheese was pretty good. The mashed potatoes??? He claimed that they were "Yucky Stuff!"Wednesday morning was pretty much spent just waiting around to get the ultrasound of his belly and to go home. Liam likes Dinosaurs, and The Land Before Time Movies have become his favorite. We had a friend bring us a few movies to borrow, and The first Land Before Time was one of them. He would watch it and watch it, We have the first one at home, but have been able to borrow the others from the Post Library over the past months. Liam LOVES them. I liked borrowing them from the library, because, then I got a break and we were not 'forced' to watch the same movies over and over again... Well, this hospital stay ended up sending Bill to the store and he was able to buy every single one of the episodes (there are 11) for Liam. We watched all of them but one, at least one time if not more (along with a few other different movies, occasionally), but when you are trapped in bed, and can't do much, and you are so miserable... movies help to pass the time! When the nurses come in and wake you up at 2 am, to take your blood, the movies help calm you down and get you to fall back to sleep. They were well worth the price (monetarily, as well as mom's dislike of repeated movie watching...)! We had several visitors come to see us at the hospital, and we received a few nice meals (non hospital food, yay!) from friends, while the rest of the family at home was being fed by the sweet sisters of our ward. Liam got some nice coloring books and crayons from friends, and a cute Get well soon balloon from his friend Katie - Thanks so much! He likes them now, even though he didn't show it at the time...We also got this cute teddy bear and balloon bouquet from Bill's Office.
When we finally arrived home on Wednesday afternoon, what did he most want to do??? Play Wii!!! Of course we happily let him! So glad to have him home!!!
When we finally arrived home on Wednesday afternoon, what did he most want to do??? Play Wii!!! Of course we happily let him! So glad to have him home!!!Life Goes On...
We are home from the hospital. Liam seems to be fine, over all, a bit whiny and clingy, but fine in general.
Liam had a Dr's appointment with the G.I. Dr. on Friday. We will have to go back for more endoscopy and banding of more esophageal varicose veins, over time. It is all a play it by ear situation... we will go back again (for outpatient treatment unless something comes up during the procedure, and he ends up back in-patient) every 2-3 months or 6 months, or whatever we determine over time for the next however many years. We’ll have to keep an eye on him, and somehow allow him to be a regular kid and play like he always has (he’s a wild man!), and if we ever see any signs of bleeding, vomiting or bowels, we need to take him in immediately! That is quite scary to me, and yet, I can’t tie him down... (last night he bumped his chest against the table at dinner, and cried and said it hurt. It makes me wonder if it is ‘sore’ because he just had all the trauma to it this week, or will it continue to be tender as long as it is vulnerable?).
Will I be freaking out whenever he wants to play rough? Will he be able to take karate classes like his dad had earlier suggested? What if he got hit or kicked in the chest? I do not want to become an overbearing, overprotective mother, but how can I not? This week he is on a soft food diet, but honestly even after that... he could scrape an enlarged varicosity in his esophagus, by not chewing his food carefully enough. He could cause himself serious injury by eating a chip! how am I going to get through this?!?
On we go... Bill was supposed to have left for a trip on monday morning last week, but with Liam in the hospital he postponed his trip. We came home from the hospital on wednesday, and early on Thursday, Bill left for NM. He will be gone for a week. Kids have projectds to work on for school, I have Childbirth classes starting back up (I was supposed to have the 1st class last week, but put that off while we were in the hospital), I have mom's approaching their due dates, choir...
and LIFE goes on.
Liam had a Dr's appointment with the G.I. Dr. on Friday. We will have to go back for more endoscopy and banding of more esophageal varicose veins, over time. It is all a play it by ear situation... we will go back again (for outpatient treatment unless something comes up during the procedure, and he ends up back in-patient) every 2-3 months or 6 months, or whatever we determine over time for the next however many years. We’ll have to keep an eye on him, and somehow allow him to be a regular kid and play like he always has (he’s a wild man!), and if we ever see any signs of bleeding, vomiting or bowels, we need to take him in immediately! That is quite scary to me, and yet, I can’t tie him down... (last night he bumped his chest against the table at dinner, and cried and said it hurt. It makes me wonder if it is ‘sore’ because he just had all the trauma to it this week, or will it continue to be tender as long as it is vulnerable?).
Will I be freaking out whenever he wants to play rough? Will he be able to take karate classes like his dad had earlier suggested? What if he got hit or kicked in the chest? I do not want to become an overbearing, overprotective mother, but how can I not? This week he is on a soft food diet, but honestly even after that... he could scrape an enlarged varicosity in his esophagus, by not chewing his food carefully enough. He could cause himself serious injury by eating a chip! how am I going to get through this?!?
On we go... Bill was supposed to have left for a trip on monday morning last week, but with Liam in the hospital he postponed his trip. We came home from the hospital on wednesday, and early on Thursday, Bill left for NM. He will be gone for a week. Kids have projectds to work on for school, I have Childbirth classes starting back up (I was supposed to have the 1st class last week, but put that off while we were in the hospital), I have mom's approaching their due dates, choir...
and LIFE goes on.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Huntsville Hospital...
So, Friday night, Liam started running a little fever. He hadn't napped, so he fell asleep at about 8 p.m.
We were in the middle of Marissa's birthday sleepover party... Around 10 pm Liam, who was asleep in our bed, started gagging a bit, and Bill who was in the room with him, got him up and took him to the sink. He started calling for someone to come. Bill thought it might have been blood, but when I looked, it was soooo dark, I thought he must have gotten into some chocolate. Vomiting blood is just not the first thing that popped into my mind!
He watched T.v. for a little while and then fell back asleep. He woke up around 2 am to potty, and was quite warm again, so I gave him some children's Tylenol. At around 5 am he woke up and started crying and throwing a fit, Bill thinks looking back on it, that he may have not been completely in his right mind even then, as it was really unlike him. Then he started jerking a bit and was sort of unintelligible. I told Bill to turn on the lights, so I could 'see' him. His hands were sort of jerking, and his legs were stiff and straight out. I called our family Dr. and yes, woke her up at 5:20 a.m. After running through everything, she suggested it might have been a febrile seizure, which is quite common among children his age, and more so with boys than girls. She suggested we watch him, but make sure he is conscious, can respond to us, and that it is also normal to sleep after a seizure. So, that is what we did.
Liam spent most of the morning snuggling or sleeping in someones arms, while I finished up with the party stuff. The birthday party girls left at 10:00 a.m. and shortly afterward, Liam started fussing again, and then sent into a similar seizure type activity, getting stiff and his hands shaking, and eyes sort of rolling back in his head. Afterward, he went into the deep sleep again, but he was absolutely pale! He had NO color in his face, and his lips were white! IT was very frightening. I decided it was time to take him in...
Amanda, Sariah and I took off with him and we went first to the urgent care center right outside our neighborhood. We got inside with him and they told us they just couldn't do anything for a child with seizures there, and we needed to take him to the E.R. in town. This time I held him in my arms, while Amanda drove us to Huntsville Hospital. He had some color at that point, and was a bit responsive, but was still so out of it. I kept monitoring his pulse and breathing all the way as we drove to make sure he was still doing o.k.
We pulled up to the ER and we got out and I left Amanda to park the van. We were actually taken right back, and only had to sit in chairs in the ER waiting room for a moment. We were back in a room before Amanda even got parked and came inside. I asked the guy at the door to please bring her back to me when she got inside. We found out later they usually only let two people back with a patient, but since they were my children, they allowed them both back. At first they were quite upset, and crying, and I was amazingly together - my heart was pounding in my chest and I felt shaky, but I didn't cry at all. The girls helped as we gave the report about his health history.
They ended up needing a urine sample so they had to catheterize him, and he also had to get blood drawn and an i.v. started. The I.V. took forever, since he was so dehydrated at that point. They had to stick him at least 4 or 5 times to get the first needle in. They tried to draw blood but he just had so little to draw, it was clearly not good. They started the I.V. bolus to hydrate him and later were able to get the second I.V. line in, and it worked much better and they were able to get the blood they needed to run the tests. All this time, the girls were very helpful trying to help hold him down, gently but firmly so that he didn't' fight. Liam cried which made Sariah cry, she is still very sensitive to him and worries anytime he gets sick, that he will 'GET SICK' and here we are! Anyway, after a while, the girls were helping to hand stuff to the nurses, and picking up after them, and they were doing a great job helping out. The nurses all commented on how much help they were! and that they should train to be nurses...
The E.R. Doc had also asked me if he had had any diareah or anything unusual. I then recalled that on Thursday or something he had had a BM that had been very dark, almost Tarry looking. I didn't' give it a whole lot of thought at the time, as kids eat various things and then they will have a BM that is a strange or unusual color... So the Dr. also ordered a stool sample. They got that, and put it on the slide. They put the stuff on it and it immediately turned bright blue, meaning there was definitely blood in his stool. They ordered a CT scan and abdominal x-rays.
They got things ready and were going to admit us upstairs into the Pediatric ICU. I was actually amazingly calm throughout all of this. I guess, even though he was quite sick, they seemed to be giving us answers and talking to us more than they had when we went through the 'mystery diagnosis' 3 1/2 yrs ago with him. It had been so scary that time, as he had been so small - just 10 days old.
As we were about to be moved from the E.R. up to the PICU; Liam threw up again. It was thick and black, but definitely blood. They told us his hemoglobin levels were down to 4. (normal is 12). So they had us set up and he got a blood transfusion when we got upstairs. Dad and Brother L. arrived shortly after we arrived up in PICU. Liam had been asking for his daddy all day so far. (several times during the 2 1/2 hrs we'd been here). Dad and Bro. L gave Liam a blessing. Dad, mom and Liam stayed, and Amanda and Sariah gave hugs and kisses and then drove home with Bro. L. Later The girls came back with a change of clothes and some sweats to sleep in, and some toiletry items. I had sent home a partial list of a few things I needed, but they did a great job of thinking what we'd need immediately.
Liam had the pulse oximeter on his finger, a blood pressure cuff (on his ankle since his one arms was already immobilized), all the heart electrode leads to monitor heart rate, and breathing, then he had the I.V. going with a bag of fluid, and a bag of blood hooked up to two separate iv's and his little arm taped up and immobilized on a board thing. Along with all of this he has had a low grade fever most of the time we've been here. He has been pretty miserable and slept a lot, but he did get a bit more animated after he started to get the IV fluid and the blood transfusion. We knew he was coming around when the Dr. was standing talking with us, and I was sitting on the end of his bed. Liam told me to move, I couldn't figure out why, but then realized the t.v. was on the wall behind me, and I was blocking his vision and was in his way! He wanted to watch Hannah Montana that was on the t.v. ;-)
Well, it's been a long couple of days: Sunday he was doing better, and no longer critical, he was released out of PICU and able to go out to a regular room on the pediatric floor. That way he could have more visitors (ie:his sisters could some and dote on him all they wanted...) (the PICU Dr. even said that was definitely one of her considerations to releasing him to the ped's floor). There were/are plusses and minuses to that. Having been through this part of the Hospital once before, we knew that it was great news, as it meant he was doing so well, but also that we would have to deal with the staff. There is comfort in the continuity of care, of having basically one (or limited) care givers. They know the history, they know what they have been doing for you so far, and so can build on that base. When you are out on the floor, you have to deal with multiple care providers, interns and students. You have countless people coming in and out of your room, often in a large group. They ask irritating questions, such as, "what has he eaten recently?" or "How is he eating?" when he has NOT been ALLOWED to EAT Anything for several days!!! Just the mention of food in front of him is rough, since you have to tell him no he can't have anything, because someone else has brought it up in front of him? (Bill and I had been taking turns going out of his room to eat, so that we didn't make him feel bad, and want food he couldn't have!)
It is aggravating to have to retell his whole medical history every time someone walks in the room, since they have NO idea who he is or what his situation is and what his treatment is or should be!
Liam, doesn't always warm up to new people in new situations very well. For that matter, it often takes a while for him to warm up to people he knows! SO... here we are in this new environment where it is quite scary, and mostly horrible, since he has been poked and prodded, probed and annoyed. You have each new nurse or student, and each new set of Dr, and their entourage, of students, that comes in the room and expects him to talk and interact and be happy to see them or something! Liam has basically shut down or tried to ignore when this parade comes through his room. He doesn't look at them, more often than not he frowns, and often cries. Some of them have shown a bit more compassion than others, and we appreciate them! Others, we want to string up, or possibly draw and quarter...
The first day he got the two IV's in his little arm, and all the other yucky things that he had to go through. At least whenever they needed MORE blood from him for this test or that, all they had to do was to get it through one of the i.v. lines already in place. By Monday, that was no longer working. They had to get blood from a vein directly. Well, this is like a world wrestling federation wrestling match! I have generally been laying on the bed half on top of him trying to help hold/pin him down. Bill has had to help hold his arms or legs to keep tehm from flailing or kicking, and at least two nurses have to work on it. Along with all of this, he is screaming, in hysteria, that "you can't do this to me!", "STOP! You're Hurting me!" Owie, owie, owie!, etc. etc. It is awful! I understand that they need some of these tests, however, sometimes, I think it is still just to 'check' a box on a list somewhere, and doggone it! If you don't have your BEST person come to the room to do this to my kid and get him on the first stick, instead of after a minimum of three sticks for everything he's had done, I think I am going to LOSE it!
This morning they wanted another blood draw, to make sure his platelets were up and that his clotting was good before doing the procedure. The nurse in the middle of the night comes in and mentions to me, during one of the countless times they came in to take his temp, or get his Blood Pressure, that they had it scheduled for 2 a.m.! WHAT?!?!?! I asked how long it would take to get the results back, she said it would depend on who was in the lab, etc. but average, an hour. I said, His procedure today wasn't scheduled until around NOON! couldn't they wait until a more humane hour of the day to do this? especially since he was actually sleeping through, most of the BP and Temp checks. She was able to put it off until about 5 am, but still... Of course somewhere around 3 am, they decided his temp was up, and that he needed tylenol or motrin. Now, he's had a fever low grade, sometimes higher than others, since we got here, and he had up to this point only had tylenol or motrin administered twice. But this time all of the sudden he 'required' it right now! While he is sound asleep at 3 in the morning! SO, we got to wake him as they are trying to shove it down his throat, (squirt it, into his mouth), and he is fighting and spitting it out. Not so pleasant either.
The blood draw was horrible! They are telling us that the UAB Dr's (in charge of the Ped's floor) want two more blood draws from him (one today/tonight, and one int he morning). However the G.I. Dr. who did his actual procedures, told us he doesn't require any more at all. He told us he'd try to talk to them, but I don't know that it will do that much good. We can try to refuse, but it might get ugly.
Anyway, we have been through all sorts of crazy emotions! Fear being at the top of the list! I have been amazingly able to hold it together this time. I really like the t.v. show House, where people with strange illnesses come in and he and his team of Dr's try to figure out what the mystery diagnosis is to treat them or cure them or whatever it is. I however, really do NOT enjoy living an episode of the mystery illness show!
The original thought was a gastrointestinal bleed. Well, even that being the case, they had to find the reason for the bleed in the GI tract. The GI Dr. figured that if it was lower GI the blood wouldn't have made it's way back up to the upper GI tract to be able to be vomited out. Although he only vomited the two times, it was clearly (he thought) an upper GI bleed.
Saturday, until they thought they had a good idea what was causing the bleeding, and they didn't see any more fresh bleeding, they didn't want him to eat or drink anything. His poor little mouth was dry and his lips were getting a bit cracked. Bill asked me if I had any lip stuff, and the only one I had, that I had grabbed out of the van while we were on our way into the hosp, and I put it in my pocket was a lightly tinted frosty pink. We used it a few times on him since his little lips were so dry. After he threw up in the ER, Sariah got him a wash cloth to wash off his mouth and teeth, etc. When we were up in the PICU room, he asked for something to chew on. Several of us had been chewing gum, so I hoped that wasn't what he was referring to. He doesn't usually chew gum (hasn't figured out how to NOT swallow it yet). It occurred to me that he was chewing on things
Sunday evening, Liam was finally able to eat something, albeit, only a clear liquid diet. He hadn't eaten anything since sometime Friday afternoon. He had fallen asleep before we got the pizza for the birthday party girls. Bill asked him if he wanted soup to eat. When the 'soup' arrived and it was just broth and didn't have any NOODLES in it, Liam was pretty unhappy! Poor little guy! He did try to eat some of it, with his sisters encouragement, however, it was so strong and salty, that he really didn't eat very much of it, and he even started coughing, from drinking in the salt. Poor kid. He wanted food so bad!
Monday morning Dr. Mc did an endoscopy. Liam had a slight bit of sedation through his IV line, and the procedure to take pic's of his upper GI and stomach, took only about 4-5 minutes. What it showed, were viscosity's, of the esophagus. It was in actuality one of the things he was looking for, although we were really hoping it was just a bacterial infection that had caused an ulcer somewhere and would be an easy fix with some antibiotics and some antacids.
He surmised that the esophageal viscosity's were a result of something called 'cavernous transition of the portal vein'. This would be the lesser of the possibilities for the problem that he was having. So, he was sent for another C.T. scan, this time of his stomach instead of his head, to determine what the cause of the varices. Then we came upstairs and Liam was finally allowed to actually EAT something. Soft, but food, something he could actually chew on... Mac n' Cheese, Mashed potatoes (or as Liam decided, it was 'yucky stuff'),Rice, ICE CREAM, and Chocolate Milk are however his favorites!
We waited most of the day for the results from the C.T. scan. We asked the UAB Dr. if those results were back, and she said she'd check on them. She called Dr. Mc and he told her he'd come talk to us. When he came over to talk to us about the results, he said he really wasn't sure about them, since none of the three Pediatric Radiologists were working on Monday. He had gotten sort of second hand info that the Radiologist (who generally only works with adults,) didn't think he had seen what Dr. Mc had been looking for. Which was not exactly good news, he tried to lay everything out for us, saying he didn't see how it could be the worse situation with cirrhosis of the liver, which would require care at a bigger medical center either in Nashville at Vanderbilt or in Atlanta. But, since Liam did not have any jaundice or high bilirubin counts, or any other signs, he didn't see how that could be the cause.
Dr. Mc said he had called one of the ped. radiologists at home to have him take a look at the ct scan, but hadn't heard back from him yet, so he really hated to tell us any of this. We told him that we understood that, but that we'd been waiting all day and had sort of pushed him to tell us something before he had all the info he wanted in order to talk to us. While we were talking, he got a phone call from the ped radiologist. He went out into the hallway, to talk. While he was gone, Bill, who had been trying to hold it together all day just broke... he'd been reading on line all day about various scenarios, and he knew what cirrhosis meant, Liver Transplant. Which also could mean a lifetime of worry about rejection, if we even got a liver to be able to transplant, etc, etc. I amazingly felt a little numb, I don't know why, but I just couldn't let myself deal with that as a possibility, until I heard that there were no other possible causes, and solutions. Since Dr. Mc wasn't ready to give in and go with that diagnosis, neither was I.
When he came back in he told us good news: which is subjective, since it wasn't the best news we had hoped to get that morning originally, but the ped radiologist confirmed what Dr. Mc hoped/thought, that is was the cavernous transformation of the portal vein. Basically what he described this to be is that the vein(s) taking blood flow into the liver, is blocked, somehow. A jumbled mass/mess of veins. As a result, the extra blood that was not making it's way into the liver, was being shunted back up to the esophagus, and with that extra blood volume and pressure, the veins in the esophagus expanded. Since the esophagus is soft tissue, there is just not a lot of protection for those enlarged veins, and they can be scraped or scratched by hard foods, or just break open from the pressure on it's own.
What this meant, however, was to go back in and band the viscosity's (under surgery, although for an adult it would be a procedure done just like, and during the endoscopy, but since he is little, the tool to do the banding, is small enough to fit, however, it could compress the airway, and so it needed to be done in the O.R.). What he would be doing was to go in and essentially tie off the vein that was enlarged and cut of the blood supply to it, so that it would no longer be enlarged, and the blood flow would stay where it was supposed to be, and over time the body would self heal and actusally should grow other pathways for the veins to the liver. DUrring his first 10 years this should get better and he should have outgrown it. (We can hope anyway).
There were three varicose veins, but one was large, and the others are still a bit smaller and will have to be done at some time most likely over the next year or so. It is also likely that over the next couple of years he might end up having more varicosities form, and needing them to be banded as well. At least we know some symptoms and idea's to watch for if he has more of these that bleed and will get him to help imediately. The GI Dr. did say it is good that we don't live out in the toolies, so we would be far away from help if we needed it... but on the other hand he didn't act like we should be freaking out or anything.
This morning, after taking blood, which was a horrible fight, three pokes, as I already stated, we saw the UAB Dr, and entourage, and the Dr. wanted two more blood draws, one tonight, and one tomorrow morning. We did ask that IF we had to do it, we requested the Nurse Richard again, since he was so good. However, after the procedure, we talked to Dr. Mc about it. He didn't feel like he needed any more blood tests. He is only the 'consulting' Dr. so he can't write orders, but he can give his oppinions, etc. He did that, but it never got changed in the orders by the UAB Dr's. When the night nurse came on tonight, she talked to us, and we told her that we felt like if the Dr. who actually was caring for him, ie: doing the procedures, and treating him, didn't feel it was necessary to get more blood, then that was good enough for us.
Now we are just hoping that we don't have problems with being released to go home tomorrow.
Wednesday, we are supposed to go home. The Pediatric Radiologist did ask for an ultrasound in the morning, before we leave, so that he has a base line to start with so we have something to follow, as Liam grows and we can see if there are changes.
As we have been going through all of this, I am thankful for family and friends. For everyone who stepped in and helped. It really is wonderful to know I don't have to worry about my other kids, and that everyone and everything is being taken care of. I'm also thankful for those that helped with meals, for my family as well as for us here. I'm also thankful to all those who were so willing to help. I am thankful for modern technology, and the ability of the Dr's to find and fix what is wrong. I am also thankful for technology and for being able to put Rebekah on video phone on the computer so that she can interact with Liam, and sing him songs and try to help him feel better, even though she is far away.
I am so thankful for prayer, and for all the many, many prayers that have been going out for Liam and my family. For family and friends, across the country and around the globe that have been praying for us, and also for those who have put Liam's name on the temple prayer rolls. And for friends of friends or family who have also been praying for my little man!
Well, that's most of the story... I have taken lots of pic's to document this newest adventure in our lives, and one day hope to get some of them put on here.
As for now, we had to plead, beg, fight, cajole and bribe Liam to finally get a dose of motrin into him earlier. It was about an hour process. After which, I told him he could have more ice cream, although he's had several different kinds today already. ;-) He finally took it, and then got to watch more movies, and daddy read him books, and I fed him ice cream! What a life... if only, he wasn't hurting, misserable, and in a hospital!
We were in the middle of Marissa's birthday sleepover party... Around 10 pm Liam, who was asleep in our bed, started gagging a bit, and Bill who was in the room with him, got him up and took him to the sink. He started calling for someone to come. Bill thought it might have been blood, but when I looked, it was soooo dark, I thought he must have gotten into some chocolate. Vomiting blood is just not the first thing that popped into my mind!
He watched T.v. for a little while and then fell back asleep. He woke up around 2 am to potty, and was quite warm again, so I gave him some children's Tylenol. At around 5 am he woke up and started crying and throwing a fit, Bill thinks looking back on it, that he may have not been completely in his right mind even then, as it was really unlike him. Then he started jerking a bit and was sort of unintelligible. I told Bill to turn on the lights, so I could 'see' him. His hands were sort of jerking, and his legs were stiff and straight out. I called our family Dr. and yes, woke her up at 5:20 a.m. After running through everything, she suggested it might have been a febrile seizure, which is quite common among children his age, and more so with boys than girls. She suggested we watch him, but make sure he is conscious, can respond to us, and that it is also normal to sleep after a seizure. So, that is what we did.
Liam spent most of the morning snuggling or sleeping in someones arms, while I finished up with the party stuff. The birthday party girls left at 10:00 a.m. and shortly afterward, Liam started fussing again, and then sent into a similar seizure type activity, getting stiff and his hands shaking, and eyes sort of rolling back in his head. Afterward, he went into the deep sleep again, but he was absolutely pale! He had NO color in his face, and his lips were white! IT was very frightening. I decided it was time to take him in...
Amanda, Sariah and I took off with him and we went first to the urgent care center right outside our neighborhood. We got inside with him and they told us they just couldn't do anything for a child with seizures there, and we needed to take him to the E.R. in town. This time I held him in my arms, while Amanda drove us to Huntsville Hospital. He had some color at that point, and was a bit responsive, but was still so out of it. I kept monitoring his pulse and breathing all the way as we drove to make sure he was still doing o.k.
We pulled up to the ER and we got out and I left Amanda to park the van. We were actually taken right back, and only had to sit in chairs in the ER waiting room for a moment. We were back in a room before Amanda even got parked and came inside. I asked the guy at the door to please bring her back to me when she got inside. We found out later they usually only let two people back with a patient, but since they were my children, they allowed them both back. At first they were quite upset, and crying, and I was amazingly together - my heart was pounding in my chest and I felt shaky, but I didn't cry at all. The girls helped as we gave the report about his health history.
They ended up needing a urine sample so they had to catheterize him, and he also had to get blood drawn and an i.v. started. The I.V. took forever, since he was so dehydrated at that point. They had to stick him at least 4 or 5 times to get the first needle in. They tried to draw blood but he just had so little to draw, it was clearly not good. They started the I.V. bolus to hydrate him and later were able to get the second I.V. line in, and it worked much better and they were able to get the blood they needed to run the tests. All this time, the girls were very helpful trying to help hold him down, gently but firmly so that he didn't' fight. Liam cried which made Sariah cry, she is still very sensitive to him and worries anytime he gets sick, that he will 'GET SICK' and here we are! Anyway, after a while, the girls were helping to hand stuff to the nurses, and picking up after them, and they were doing a great job helping out. The nurses all commented on how much help they were! and that they should train to be nurses...
The E.R. Doc had also asked me if he had had any diareah or anything unusual. I then recalled that on Thursday or something he had had a BM that had been very dark, almost Tarry looking. I didn't' give it a whole lot of thought at the time, as kids eat various things and then they will have a BM that is a strange or unusual color... So the Dr. also ordered a stool sample. They got that, and put it on the slide. They put the stuff on it and it immediately turned bright blue, meaning there was definitely blood in his stool. They ordered a CT scan and abdominal x-rays.
They got things ready and were going to admit us upstairs into the Pediatric ICU. I was actually amazingly calm throughout all of this. I guess, even though he was quite sick, they seemed to be giving us answers and talking to us more than they had when we went through the 'mystery diagnosis' 3 1/2 yrs ago with him. It had been so scary that time, as he had been so small - just 10 days old.
As we were about to be moved from the E.R. up to the PICU; Liam threw up again. It was thick and black, but definitely blood. They told us his hemoglobin levels were down to 4. (normal is 12). So they had us set up and he got a blood transfusion when we got upstairs. Dad and Brother L. arrived shortly after we arrived up in PICU. Liam had been asking for his daddy all day so far. (several times during the 2 1/2 hrs we'd been here). Dad and Bro. L gave Liam a blessing. Dad, mom and Liam stayed, and Amanda and Sariah gave hugs and kisses and then drove home with Bro. L. Later The girls came back with a change of clothes and some sweats to sleep in, and some toiletry items. I had sent home a partial list of a few things I needed, but they did a great job of thinking what we'd need immediately.
Liam had the pulse oximeter on his finger, a blood pressure cuff (on his ankle since his one arms was already immobilized), all the heart electrode leads to monitor heart rate, and breathing, then he had the I.V. going with a bag of fluid, and a bag of blood hooked up to two separate iv's and his little arm taped up and immobilized on a board thing. Along with all of this he has had a low grade fever most of the time we've been here. He has been pretty miserable and slept a lot, but he did get a bit more animated after he started to get the IV fluid and the blood transfusion. We knew he was coming around when the Dr. was standing talking with us, and I was sitting on the end of his bed. Liam told me to move, I couldn't figure out why, but then realized the t.v. was on the wall behind me, and I was blocking his vision and was in his way! He wanted to watch Hannah Montana that was on the t.v. ;-)
Well, it's been a long couple of days: Sunday he was doing better, and no longer critical, he was released out of PICU and able to go out to a regular room on the pediatric floor. That way he could have more visitors (ie:his sisters could some and dote on him all they wanted...) (the PICU Dr. even said that was definitely one of her considerations to releasing him to the ped's floor). There were/are plusses and minuses to that. Having been through this part of the Hospital once before, we knew that it was great news, as it meant he was doing so well, but also that we would have to deal with the staff. There is comfort in the continuity of care, of having basically one (or limited) care givers. They know the history, they know what they have been doing for you so far, and so can build on that base. When you are out on the floor, you have to deal with multiple care providers, interns and students. You have countless people coming in and out of your room, often in a large group. They ask irritating questions, such as, "what has he eaten recently?" or "How is he eating?" when he has NOT been ALLOWED to EAT Anything for several days!!! Just the mention of food in front of him is rough, since you have to tell him no he can't have anything, because someone else has brought it up in front of him? (Bill and I had been taking turns going out of his room to eat, so that we didn't make him feel bad, and want food he couldn't have!)
It is aggravating to have to retell his whole medical history every time someone walks in the room, since they have NO idea who he is or what his situation is and what his treatment is or should be!
Liam, doesn't always warm up to new people in new situations very well. For that matter, it often takes a while for him to warm up to people he knows! SO... here we are in this new environment where it is quite scary, and mostly horrible, since he has been poked and prodded, probed and annoyed. You have each new nurse or student, and each new set of Dr, and their entourage, of students, that comes in the room and expects him to talk and interact and be happy to see them or something! Liam has basically shut down or tried to ignore when this parade comes through his room. He doesn't look at them, more often than not he frowns, and often cries. Some of them have shown a bit more compassion than others, and we appreciate them! Others, we want to string up, or possibly draw and quarter...
The first day he got the two IV's in his little arm, and all the other yucky things that he had to go through. At least whenever they needed MORE blood from him for this test or that, all they had to do was to get it through one of the i.v. lines already in place. By Monday, that was no longer working. They had to get blood from a vein directly. Well, this is like a world wrestling federation wrestling match! I have generally been laying on the bed half on top of him trying to help hold/pin him down. Bill has had to help hold his arms or legs to keep tehm from flailing or kicking, and at least two nurses have to work on it. Along with all of this, he is screaming, in hysteria, that "you can't do this to me!", "STOP! You're Hurting me!" Owie, owie, owie!, etc. etc. It is awful! I understand that they need some of these tests, however, sometimes, I think it is still just to 'check' a box on a list somewhere, and doggone it! If you don't have your BEST person come to the room to do this to my kid and get him on the first stick, instead of after a minimum of three sticks for everything he's had done, I think I am going to LOSE it!
This morning they wanted another blood draw, to make sure his platelets were up and that his clotting was good before doing the procedure. The nurse in the middle of the night comes in and mentions to me, during one of the countless times they came in to take his temp, or get his Blood Pressure, that they had it scheduled for 2 a.m.! WHAT?!?!?! I asked how long it would take to get the results back, she said it would depend on who was in the lab, etc. but average, an hour. I said, His procedure today wasn't scheduled until around NOON! couldn't they wait until a more humane hour of the day to do this? especially since he was actually sleeping through, most of the BP and Temp checks. She was able to put it off until about 5 am, but still... Of course somewhere around 3 am, they decided his temp was up, and that he needed tylenol or motrin. Now, he's had a fever low grade, sometimes higher than others, since we got here, and he had up to this point only had tylenol or motrin administered twice. But this time all of the sudden he 'required' it right now! While he is sound asleep at 3 in the morning! SO, we got to wake him as they are trying to shove it down his throat, (squirt it, into his mouth), and he is fighting and spitting it out. Not so pleasant either.
The blood draw was horrible! They are telling us that the UAB Dr's (in charge of the Ped's floor) want two more blood draws from him (one today/tonight, and one int he morning). However the G.I. Dr. who did his actual procedures, told us he doesn't require any more at all. He told us he'd try to talk to them, but I don't know that it will do that much good. We can try to refuse, but it might get ugly.
Anyway, we have been through all sorts of crazy emotions! Fear being at the top of the list! I have been amazingly able to hold it together this time. I really like the t.v. show House, where people with strange illnesses come in and he and his team of Dr's try to figure out what the mystery diagnosis is to treat them or cure them or whatever it is. I however, really do NOT enjoy living an episode of the mystery illness show!
The original thought was a gastrointestinal bleed. Well, even that being the case, they had to find the reason for the bleed in the GI tract. The GI Dr. figured that if it was lower GI the blood wouldn't have made it's way back up to the upper GI tract to be able to be vomited out. Although he only vomited the two times, it was clearly (he thought) an upper GI bleed.
Saturday, until they thought they had a good idea what was causing the bleeding, and they didn't see any more fresh bleeding, they didn't want him to eat or drink anything. His poor little mouth was dry and his lips were getting a bit cracked. Bill asked me if I had any lip stuff, and the only one I had, that I had grabbed out of the van while we were on our way into the hosp, and I put it in my pocket was a lightly tinted frosty pink. We used it a few times on him since his little lips were so dry. After he threw up in the ER, Sariah got him a wash cloth to wash off his mouth and teeth, etc. When we were up in the PICU room, he asked for something to chew on. Several of us had been chewing gum, so I hoped that wasn't what he was referring to. He doesn't usually chew gum (hasn't figured out how to NOT swallow it yet). It occurred to me that he was chewing on things
Sunday evening, Liam was finally able to eat something, albeit, only a clear liquid diet. He hadn't eaten anything since sometime Friday afternoon. He had fallen asleep before we got the pizza for the birthday party girls. Bill asked him if he wanted soup to eat. When the 'soup' arrived and it was just broth and didn't have any NOODLES in it, Liam was pretty unhappy! Poor little guy! He did try to eat some of it, with his sisters encouragement, however, it was so strong and salty, that he really didn't eat very much of it, and he even started coughing, from drinking in the salt. Poor kid. He wanted food so bad!
Monday morning Dr. Mc did an endoscopy. Liam had a slight bit of sedation through his IV line, and the procedure to take pic's of his upper GI and stomach, took only about 4-5 minutes. What it showed, were viscosity's, of the esophagus. It was in actuality one of the things he was looking for, although we were really hoping it was just a bacterial infection that had caused an ulcer somewhere and would be an easy fix with some antibiotics and some antacids.
He surmised that the esophageal viscosity's were a result of something called 'cavernous transition of the portal vein'. This would be the lesser of the possibilities for the problem that he was having. So, he was sent for another C.T. scan, this time of his stomach instead of his head, to determine what the cause of the varices. Then we came upstairs and Liam was finally allowed to actually EAT something. Soft, but food, something he could actually chew on... Mac n' Cheese, Mashed potatoes (or as Liam decided, it was 'yucky stuff'),Rice, ICE CREAM, and Chocolate Milk are however his favorites!
We waited most of the day for the results from the C.T. scan. We asked the UAB Dr. if those results were back, and she said she'd check on them. She called Dr. Mc and he told her he'd come talk to us. When he came over to talk to us about the results, he said he really wasn't sure about them, since none of the three Pediatric Radiologists were working on Monday. He had gotten sort of second hand info that the Radiologist (who generally only works with adults,) didn't think he had seen what Dr. Mc had been looking for. Which was not exactly good news, he tried to lay everything out for us, saying he didn't see how it could be the worse situation with cirrhosis of the liver, which would require care at a bigger medical center either in Nashville at Vanderbilt or in Atlanta. But, since Liam did not have any jaundice or high bilirubin counts, or any other signs, he didn't see how that could be the cause.
Dr. Mc said he had called one of the ped. radiologists at home to have him take a look at the ct scan, but hadn't heard back from him yet, so he really hated to tell us any of this. We told him that we understood that, but that we'd been waiting all day and had sort of pushed him to tell us something before he had all the info he wanted in order to talk to us. While we were talking, he got a phone call from the ped radiologist. He went out into the hallway, to talk. While he was gone, Bill, who had been trying to hold it together all day just broke... he'd been reading on line all day about various scenarios, and he knew what cirrhosis meant, Liver Transplant. Which also could mean a lifetime of worry about rejection, if we even got a liver to be able to transplant, etc, etc. I amazingly felt a little numb, I don't know why, but I just couldn't let myself deal with that as a possibility, until I heard that there were no other possible causes, and solutions. Since Dr. Mc wasn't ready to give in and go with that diagnosis, neither was I.
When he came back in he told us good news: which is subjective, since it wasn't the best news we had hoped to get that morning originally, but the ped radiologist confirmed what Dr. Mc hoped/thought, that is was the cavernous transformation of the portal vein. Basically what he described this to be is that the vein(s) taking blood flow into the liver, is blocked, somehow. A jumbled mass/mess of veins. As a result, the extra blood that was not making it's way into the liver, was being shunted back up to the esophagus, and with that extra blood volume and pressure, the veins in the esophagus expanded. Since the esophagus is soft tissue, there is just not a lot of protection for those enlarged veins, and they can be scraped or scratched by hard foods, or just break open from the pressure on it's own.
What this meant, however, was to go back in and band the viscosity's (under surgery, although for an adult it would be a procedure done just like, and during the endoscopy, but since he is little, the tool to do the banding, is small enough to fit, however, it could compress the airway, and so it needed to be done in the O.R.). What he would be doing was to go in and essentially tie off the vein that was enlarged and cut of the blood supply to it, so that it would no longer be enlarged, and the blood flow would stay where it was supposed to be, and over time the body would self heal and actusally should grow other pathways for the veins to the liver. DUrring his first 10 years this should get better and he should have outgrown it. (We can hope anyway).
There were three varicose veins, but one was large, and the others are still a bit smaller and will have to be done at some time most likely over the next year or so. It is also likely that over the next couple of years he might end up having more varicosities form, and needing them to be banded as well. At least we know some symptoms and idea's to watch for if he has more of these that bleed and will get him to help imediately. The GI Dr. did say it is good that we don't live out in the toolies, so we would be far away from help if we needed it... but on the other hand he didn't act like we should be freaking out or anything.
This morning, after taking blood, which was a horrible fight, three pokes, as I already stated, we saw the UAB Dr, and entourage, and the Dr. wanted two more blood draws, one tonight, and one tomorrow morning. We did ask that IF we had to do it, we requested the Nurse Richard again, since he was so good. However, after the procedure, we talked to Dr. Mc about it. He didn't feel like he needed any more blood tests. He is only the 'consulting' Dr. so he can't write orders, but he can give his oppinions, etc. He did that, but it never got changed in the orders by the UAB Dr's. When the night nurse came on tonight, she talked to us, and we told her that we felt like if the Dr. who actually was caring for him, ie: doing the procedures, and treating him, didn't feel it was necessary to get more blood, then that was good enough for us.
Now we are just hoping that we don't have problems with being released to go home tomorrow.
Wednesday, we are supposed to go home. The Pediatric Radiologist did ask for an ultrasound in the morning, before we leave, so that he has a base line to start with so we have something to follow, as Liam grows and we can see if there are changes.
As we have been going through all of this, I am thankful for family and friends. For everyone who stepped in and helped. It really is wonderful to know I don't have to worry about my other kids, and that everyone and everything is being taken care of. I'm also thankful for those that helped with meals, for my family as well as for us here. I'm also thankful to all those who were so willing to help. I am thankful for modern technology, and the ability of the Dr's to find and fix what is wrong. I am also thankful for technology and for being able to put Rebekah on video phone on the computer so that she can interact with Liam, and sing him songs and try to help him feel better, even though she is far away.
I am so thankful for prayer, and for all the many, many prayers that have been going out for Liam and my family. For family and friends, across the country and around the globe that have been praying for us, and also for those who have put Liam's name on the temple prayer rolls. And for friends of friends or family who have also been praying for my little man!
Well, that's most of the story... I have taken lots of pic's to document this newest adventure in our lives, and one day hope to get some of them put on here.
As for now, we had to plead, beg, fight, cajole and bribe Liam to finally get a dose of motrin into him earlier. It was about an hour process. After which, I told him he could have more ice cream, although he's had several different kinds today already. ;-) He finally took it, and then got to watch more movies, and daddy read him books, and I fed him ice cream! What a life... if only, he wasn't hurting, misserable, and in a hospital!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Marissa is 9 years old today!
Nine years ago today, Marissa Naomi came into our lives.
6. She likes to write special songs for her sister.
So, in honor of her birthday, I'll tell you NINE things about Marissa:
1. She likes to sing and dance!
2. She is a Fashionista!.JPG)
3. Marissa KICKS! She is now a 2nd degree Blue belt in karate! 
3. Marissa KICKS! She is now a 2nd degree Blue belt in karate! 4. She is "Beautiful" and "my best friend" by: Liam
5. She is a social Butterfly and usually has many BFF's.
6. She likes to write special songs for her sister. 7. She is very giving - and for presents at birthdays and Hollidays, she will offer up her favorite toys, or any money she might have as gifts.
8. She is Spunky!
9. She is our Little Japanese child.
It has been a lot of fun watching this energetic, fun loving, spirit grow up! She has kept us on our toes, made us laugh, and we look forward to watching as she grows into a beautiful young woman!
Happy Birthday Marissa!
missing life...
I've missed so many big events in the past few weeks! I've been fighting with my computer, with blogger, with finding my photo's, etc... so I just haven't blogged. I will rectify the situation soon. But today I have other things so...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)