So...

This is going to be short, but sweet.  Ethan is getting up with crutches, although it tires him out pretty decently, it's a step in the right direction. His right foot is still causing pain, but he's hopefully he can use his new hot tub in about a week.

Kate had her yearly scoliosis test today and everything is normal. She will go back again next year. She has two more weeks and then we get her eyes tested for prescription glasses and we get her ankle rechecked. Same day. Fun. She hated the wrist wrap and promptly ditched it after one day. She rarely complains about her wrist and is pretty functional with it.

I had my dumb appendix decide it needed to be out on Sunday the 4th. That was fun....not really, but laugh or cry, right?  Still sore and swollen. Had to do three incisions instead of little holes, too much scar tissue from  having the kiddos. Well, nothing can be easy over here. Apparently.

Looking forward to school starting and life getting "normal" again. Thanks to everyone for all the rides, meals, toys, etc. I sincerely hope I don't have to repay your kindness, that's way better, right?  And I hope you have never have to supply my family with anything else in the future. :)

Eye Surgery

The suture removal went well. It took forever to get her in. It was after 5:30 before she went into surgery, we got home just about 8:30. Poor girl was starving. Stopped and got Chick Fil A nuggets and Pat N Oscar bread sticks on the way home. She ate like crazy. By bedtime she was her same old self. The real pain are the eye drops. 8 times a day for 7 days, then 2 times a day for 7 days. We have been doing eye drops for almost 2 months as it is.

Ethan is doing better. He is taking less pain medication and even snuck in a shower after wrapping his foot up in plastic, just don't tell his doctor. He goes back to the doc next Friday about his foot. Once his foot is feeling better, he will be up to his wheelchair more often and out of the room I'm sure he hates by now.

Oh, before Kate's procedure last Monday, I took her to orthopedics next door and they removed her two casts but said she wasn't quite healed enough to go without them. Back on they went and then we hustled to surgery. Kate and I are getting to be super pro at doctor appts and surgeries.  I have to say, almost made me sick to be back at Rady's on Monday. I love that they fix my daughter there, but I know it too well, I don't want to see it again for a very, very long time.

Hopefully, Kate will get casts back off this coming Thursday. She is being fitted for a boot tomorrow, to wear after cast comes off. Taking the kids to Disneyland on Tuesday, low key and just hang out. Ice cream will happen. Yes. Utah trip next Monday. Hopefully, cast free, wheelchair free......

Catching Up

So...as most people know, Kate and Ethan were in a head on collision with a probable drunk driver. Both are healing, slowly and painfully for Ethan. Kate is doing a little better.

Kate is having her eye procedure done tomorrow at Rady Children's. It should be a very quick procedure. Last I heard it was going to be at 1pm, rotten, but Rady's was supposed to call me and give me an update on time and no call yet. So we are doing multiple drops of antibiotics and such the last two days to gear up for tomorrow. There is also a chance we can sneak her into orthopedics and get her arm cast off and a soft, removable wrap on.  Fingers are crossed.

That's all I can muster for today. I will give a heads up on how things went tomorrow. Hopefully it will be short and sweet.

Eye Procedure

The quick story is that her procedure to remove the sutures in her eyes has been postponed. It must be done at Rady Children's Hospital.  Huge pain on the one hand, totally good we are being safe on the other. I'm a little worried the loose suture will become more loose while we are in Utah in a few weeks.  She is still having drops in her eyes every day to make sure she doesn't get an infection, but she is quite tired of them and so are we.

Last day of school today, I'm not sure who is happier, the kids or myself.  I'm expecting a call from Shiley, hopefully by end of the week.

Yearly Cardiac Echo and Eye Update

It's been nice not having much to put on here. Sadly, it was a short lived respite.  Last Friday, May 31st, Kate had another eye appointment at Shiley Eye Center. Everything looks good, but....don't you hate that word, there is a suture in her left eye that needs to be removed because it is loose and could cause an infection. Apparently it's not crucial in keeping her lens in place so the Dr would like to remove it along with the corresponding suture in the right eye. I can see the suture when I put drops in her eyes, kind of interesting and a little freaky.

She is currently scheduled to have the sutures removed on June 19th. It's a 30 second procedure, but given her age and possible squirmy body, they think it's a good idea to lightly sedate her. This brings in the issue of her heart condition. It might have to be done at Rady Children's Hospital which turns the 30 second procedure into a half day ordeal. We are waiting to hear from Shiley on this. In the meantime, she is still getting eye drops for inflammation and now antibiotics in the left eye just to be safe.

Kate and Noah both had a cardiac echo yesterday, Monday, at Children's hospital. Kate also had an EKG and a chest x-ray. They were checking Noah to see if his pulmonary artery still looked slightly enlarged. It's still enlarged, status quo. The Dr isn't worried about it, but Noah has to be seen every three years.

Kate has an enlarged aorta. It has increased in size a bit, but her body has also grown so it's still within a safe range. Her daily medication to keep her blood pressure low was increased slightly due to her growth. She will go back in a year.

She did have to have her blood drawn, and I am not kidding when I say I had to physically restrain her to get it done. She made the slightest face when the needle first went in, but then looked at me like she knew she was making a big deal out of nothing.

She is seeing two more eye doctors in the next few weeks. One is tomorrow and he will be checking the general health of her eyes. The next one will be checking her to see what her new prescription is or if she needs to have one at all.

Kate has an appointment later this month to recheck her back and hips. This makes me tired to even think about. Fun for us.

Follow Up, Finally

Things have gotten a bit crazy. The download on Kate is that her eye surgery took TWICE as long as it should have, but it turned out wonderfully.  She can see so much better, she really only needs glasses for reading now. The idea is that she will grow and her eyes will grow and when she is about 19 or 20 years old she won't need glasses at all, or very little. She currently has a pair from Rite Aid until her eyes are fully recovered and then she gets a prescription. Hopefully that happens this Friday at her appointment. She is still on prednisone drops three times a day to bring the swelling down.

I moved. I bought a house, it's lovely. It's on an acre with big trees and a stream! I hear frogs every night and have seen an egret in my back yard, probably eating my lizards. So many of them.

Ethan also bought a home and it has a pool so the kids are very excited. Huck is excited to have a huge yard to run around in.

I will update again after Friday.  It also happens to be the Jog-a-thon at Kate's school, so it's a good day to miss since she has become an official card marker since she can't run like that.

Kate went to Indian Princess camp with Ethan this weekend and apparently has quite the aim. She did exceedingly well at shooting a BB gun at a target and using the bow and arrow. Now she wants horse riding lessons. Ugh, I can wrap her in bubble wrap for that, right?  

Good News

The good news is Kate did very well in her surgery. It lasted a lot longer than anticipated which had me worried, but her vision is almost perfect. She wears glasses to read, but can totally see without them. Such a blessing. The only thing missing is sleep. The night before surgery I couldn't sleep, worried about surgery. Then last night Kate couldn't sleep. She has to wear shields over her eyes and it freaked her out all night. So tonight is the night. Sleep. I hope. I will do a real post tomorrow, or soon at any rate. Everything is good. Thank you for your love and prayers.