Febrile Seizures, a New ER, and Pin Pulling

Another week of ups and downs. We started the week off well with promising news for Ella from the hand doc. The gap between the break had decreased from .6mm to .3mm. The doc was very excited and said that it 'made his day'. We go back next Mon to hopefully pull the pins and 2-3 weeks later, Ella could finally be cast-free.

I headed out to Seattle on Tue, which usually means that things are going to go south. And, of course, they did. After a couple calm days, Kristy got a call at work on Thu that Jack had a seizure and he was headed to the ER (Riverview, this time). I'll let Kristy fill in the details, but apparently, he had a fever spike and a seizure can be a toddler's way of trying to reduce it. In most cases, the seizure just occurs once, but Jack had another early Fri morning. I wasn't coming back until Fri night, so Kristy called her mom and then went back to the ER (St. V's, where they recognized her from Ella...). They put him on a Tylenol/Motrin fever reducer plan and also Tamiflu (even though he tested negative for flu, they said it wouldn't hurt). Last night, he had several fever spikes, but fortunately no seizures and today he just seems like a sick kid. We're hoping that the worst is over.

Anyone got a padded room in a remote location on a farm for sale?

Another Couple Weeks

We had our weekly visit to the doc and Ella's finger is getting better, but it's growing very slowly. It's been over 11 weeks since the break and 6 weeks since the last surgery. Best case scenario now would be to pull the pins next Monday and the cast the following week. The doc seems to think that since the break was so severe it took longer than expected for the bone to repair. We're taking the 'better safe than sorry' attitude and are happy that we haven't breached the bone graft conversation...

On a Jack note, I'd heard people talk about how their kids are always sick from daycare. Now, I'm a believer. It seems like Jack has been up and down for the past month after only being sick once the year before. And it's not even flu season. Argh.

2 More Weeks

Good news, bad news. Ella's finger is actually starting to heal, however, the doc advised leaving her pins in for another couple weeks. Since we're already on week 9+ since the break and we don't want to go back to step 1, we agreed. She still is in good spirits and loves to dance and laugh...

Fun with Photoshop

Tomorrow morning we have our next appt with the hand doc. Hopefully, it'll be good news. We'll let you know.... I've been playing with Photoshop the last couple days and it's amazing what you can do with a good subject and zero artistic talent whatsoever...

Football or Soccer?


Reading Merton


Chillin' in the chair





New winter hats

Still Waiting

Ella had another doctor's appointment on Monday... still no progress on the bone, but it has only been a week and a half since the second surgery. David and I continue to pray that this second surgery will be the fix!! Ella is being so good about the whole thing, but her patience is waining.

The worst thing is seeing her try to do all the things the other kids are doing... with one hand, even using a sippy cup is difficult. Hopefully the cast won't impede the use of her arm and hand in the future. We worry that she'll need physical therapy to learn how to use her hand effectively.

What's crazy is that she'll not remember any of this, while David and I are scarred. I think the reason we have gone over the top with our house (taking things off the wall/removing furniture cushions/etc.) is because of her break. We thought we had done a good job before, and we have a bone that won't heal... ugh!

We go back to the doctor on Monday - the doctor said that the pins may possibly get to come out... not sure why if the bone isn't healed, but I guess I'll ask when we get there.