Sickness Plague

Kyleigh continues to have the horrible cough and is now wheezing. Kaitlyn has a cough and puffy eyes. Kaitlyn was crying when I arrived at school today for her Caring and Sharing Party. Unfortunately, that meant we took another fieldtrip to the good ole' pediatrician. Turns out Kyleigh has bronchiolitis which sounded like a made up diagnosis to me at first but turns out to be infection of the bronchioles and similar to RSV. Kaitlyn has conjuctivitis (not pink eye) but just infection of the eyes and a bad cold. So they both left with prescriptions and we headed for the CVS.

Meanwhile, Dennis is at a PTA meeting fundraiser tonight for his school. They came up with a snazzy little jingle this year --

Putting Mr. Foster on the Roof- $300

Having Mr. Foster sleep on the roof- $1000

Seeing Mr. Foster freeze like a popsicle- PRICELESS

I have to give it to the PTA they are working hard to raise the money for students that can't afford to attend fieldtrips. Sadly, it happens to be one of the coldest nights in February and is currently snowing. I hope for his sake that they don't raise all of the money tonight and he can come home "safely" to a warm house and bed.

Either way, keep us in your prayers for health, safety and sanity.

Kyleigh Update on Fever

Kyleigh ended up going to see our pediatrician this evening. She has lost almost a pound but that is expected with her recent surgery and illness. She had a fever of 101.7 after Tylenol. The doctor wasn't pleased with the lingering fever or cough. He questioned if she had pneumonia and wanted to verify with a chest x-ray. So off to Wesley Long we headed for an x-ray. She hated as they strapped her in the contraption with her arms above her head. We returned to the pediatrician office to await the results. Thank goodness, she does not have pneumonia. There is some respiratory gunk but they can't verify if viral or bacterial at this point without doing blood work. Since she had already begun the antibiotic the doctor has decided to continue the medicine. If her fever persists another 24 hours I should call and bring her back in for blood work. If it is viral she should take a turn for the better in the next 24 hours since it is 1/2 way through the length of an expected viral infection. All this said, she is still a sick little girl and we are no closer to a solution than we were hours ago.

Kyleigh's Fever Lingers

So Kyleigh hasn't shown any improvements on the first antibiotic prescribed a week ago by the attending pediatrician at Moses Cone ER. So she went to our pediatrician's office this Saturday. Other than, "her throat looks really red and she should see her surgeon soon to make sure it isn't supposed to look this way", the doctor didn't say much. He did change her antibiotic to Augmentum and told us to keep doing Tylenol. Well, needless to say she has the worst cough and drainage. Of course, she didn't cough while at the doctor office-just like taking your car to the mechanic! Anyways, her fever just will not go away with Tylenol or Tylenol with Codeine. So I called the attending physician at Duke Hospital tonight and got clearance to give her Motrin. He said it sounds like they should check her for strept throat but we should call the surgeon's office in the morning to get his opinion. That's all for now-will keep you posted.

Recent Pics of the Girls

Uncle Chris came to visit --- we love Uncle Chris, but we missed seeing Aunt Liz this time. Hoping to go visit them in SC this Spring. Kaitlyn showing off her violin skills.
Kaitlyn challenges Uncle Chris to a game of Hi Ho Cheerio--don't remember who won but I'm sure they both had fun! (Love ya Brother!)
Kaitlyn ventures out to the backyard to play in the crunchy snow and kept falling down.
Smiley girl playing despite the "no-no's" on her arms---such a trooper!

Update on Kyleigh

Kyleigh has been making slow improvements as she recovers from surgery. She is needing the Tylenol with Codeine less and less. She is eating more solids and drinking more of her soy formula. On a good feed she is taking 3 ounces which is a miracle compared to day 1 post surgery. Her schedule is a mess right now, as she doesn't really have one. It is hard to have a schedule when she is eating small amounts at a time. Tomorrow is her first day back to the therapy sessions and it is OT so that should help her with the feedings. As many of you know we have had snow and it has resulted in "no school" for Kaitlyn. We are starting to get cabin fever and actually would prefer the winter weather to stay away as they are calling for more this weekend. Despite the cabin fever, we are still thankful that both girls are healthy and home.

Trip to the ER

Yesterday Kyleigh went down for a nap around 10:30 and as of 2:30 was still asleep. I finally went in her room and started to try and arouse her a little. She didn't want to wake up. In addition, she was blazing hot to the touch. She had a fever of 102.9. I called the number on her discharge paperwork just to find out they were closed. So then I called the other number to talk to the resident on call and they didn't know who to have call me back. I waited and then called our pediatrician's office and had them do a conference call with us at Duke. So glad I did because the nurse at the ped office was able to get a doctor on the phone for me. He didn't like the fever either or that she was taking in so little of fluids. So he conferred with our surgeon and we were told to either go to the local ER or bring her to Duke ER. Since the weather was oh so not nice we decided to go with the local ER at Moses Cone. Kaitlyn went to stay at our neighbor Anna's house while Duane drove us to Moses Cone in his 4WD vehicle. A urine test, x-ray, physical check-up, hours and a $200 co-pay later we are leaving with a Rx for an antibiotic and told to just keep giving her Tylenol with Codeine. Basically, they don't know why she has the fever but they think they should treat her for a possible infection. We returned home by 9pm and her fever was creeping back up. We gave her more Tylenol with Codeine and some jello and put her to bed. This morning she is acting better and playful with a low grade fever. Kaitlyn is also feeling much better.

Day 1 Post Surgery---We are Home!

We came home today at 12:30 - what a blessing!!!! Kyleigh did a great job eating banana and drinking 2 oz this morning for the therapist so we were discharged. On the way home she ate more mashed banana and then took a long nap. Once home she changed clothes due to the drooling that occurs right now. She played happily for a while with mommy and her toys on the floor until it was time for another great nap. She rested well as long as mommy or pawpaw or mawmaw would hold her on their chest, which none of us really minded at all. My parents went to the store for me which was another blessing.

We have been receiving many blessings this week despite the circumstances. We realize that we are surrounded by so much love and friends. We were greeted at the hospital by our children's director, Kathy, yesterday with lunch from Quizno's which we enjoyed later in the day. Then we had several friends from visit us at the hospital by the end of the day as well as phone calls, emails, and texts all through the night letting us know that we were in their thoughts and prayers. Even tonight as we returned home from the hospital there were friends eager to provide dinner that we almost ended up with 3 meals---so awesome to be so loved!

We appreciate all of the support that we have been given and know that we will be glad to return the blessings to all of our friends and family one day.

Kyleigh and Kaitlyn are sleeping soundly in bed and the snow is coming down outside our home. So thankful for the small steps in healing and the peace I feel tonight.