I just re-read my last post in early December and so much has changed with Sean since then! (Everyone else is doing about the same so I'm not going to update on all of them.)
Shortly after my last post, Gracie came home with rotavirus, a pretty severe stomach virus, and of course within a few days all 5 of us were sick. It was so awful - we hadn't done the "whole family sick at the same time" thing in a long time! UGH! Everyone came out of it okay, and we were surprised that Sean handled it better than Mark and I did (I think we were both pretty behind on sleep, which doesn't help.)
While the rest of us were sick about 24-48 hours and then fine again, Sean was mildly sick for about 12 hours and then fine for a couple of days, then sick again, then fine again, then sick again. I kept sending him to school because I thought he was better and then he'd throw up in the middle of the night again! I noticed that he kept vomiting in the middle of the night (he insisted on a bucket next to his bed for about 3 weeks) but I couldn't figure out a pattern at all.
Anyway, I called Sean's nephrologist and got some bloodwork done, and all his kidney tests came back normal. The Sunday of the Christmas program he did great at church and then doubled over in pain as soon as we got home, so I took him in to his pediatrician. He couldn't find anything wrong at all but since there were "crystals" in his urine the ped ordered a CT for Thursday.
We didn't get the results until we were already in Sioux Center, but apparently the CT did show several kidney stones! I still think it's weird for an 8-year-old to have kidney stones but all his doctors are pretty casual about it. The CT also showed a big crystal/stone in his appendix, which worried me a LOT since neither my dad nor I have an appendix anymore. The ped who told me about it said that if he threw up again while at my parents I had to bring him in to the local ER, so we ended up doing that on Sunday evening. I was very nervous that he would show some kind of infection and they'd want to take his appendix out, because his transplanted kidney is literally sitting right on top of where his appendix is! I don't want anybody but the transplant surgeons messing around in there and we were 300 miles away from the University at that point.
Fortunately he did not have any infection and all his labs were again normal. By this point all his regular doctors were gone for the holiday so we kind of just crossed our fingers and waited until Wednesday to start making phone calls again. His pediatrician spoke with several surgeons and recommended the old "wait and see" routine, which I always love (not!) and I finally spoke with nephrology this Monday, and they recommend the same thing.
They had also tested for CMV, which is another one of those viruses that is just another virus for normal people but can cause all kinds of trouble for transplant patients, and he was positive for that also. Nephrology is currently debating whether to do anything about it, but for now they recommend "waiting and seeing" on that too.
So.... long story short.... there is obviously something weird going on with Sean and we'd really appreciate your prayers for him right now. We are VERY grateful that we were able to have a good time with family over the Christmas break and that the worst thing that happened was a 1-hour trip to the Sioux Center ER. Don't get me wrong, watching Sean alternate between having a great time with his cousins and then puking his guts out was awful, but it definitely could have been a lot worse.
Right now none of his doctors have scheduled any follow-up so I guess we're just supposed to keep an eye on him and see if his pain/vomiting get better or not and go from there. Obviously if anything too exciting happens I won't be able to get online to write about it but I will update as soon as possible.
Have a blessed New Year!
Laurie
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Another Update
Ugh! I can't believe it's been so long since my last update! Sorry about that. I've been working at school a lot and I just don't ever get on the computer anymore (love the job though - I'm working with special needs preschoolers and I love them all to death!) Here are the basic updates on everyone:
Sean - doing very well. Praise God that his last set of labs came back negative - he had tested trace positive for that EBV again and I didn't want to start getting the CAT scans all the time again. Despite lots and lots of viruses going around at school he's been very healthy and he's only had a handful of accidents the whole year so far! Yea!
Grace - turned one a few days ago! :) She's home sick today, which is why I finally have time to blog, but she's already feeling better. I think she must have been exposed to rotavirus, which can be kind of nasty, so I'm glad she's handling it well.
Jacob - also doing awesome. Loving school, his friends, going to the library, all that good stuff.
Shadow - misses Mark and doesn't like being by himself during the day but otherwise pretty happy. :)
Laurie - loves the new job but not the tornado-disaster of a house that comes with working full-time.
Mark - loves both his new jobs! He's starting to get worried that the AccountTemps job is going to end soon and they haven't started interviewing for the permanent position yet, but so far he's still there. Our biggest issue is still the lack of insurance - we really need some and soon! He definitely likes the UPS gig out at the airport too. It's getting kind of cold lately but he still really enjoys it.
Laurie's grandmas - both doing really well! It was nice getting to see them at Thanksgiving again.
Mark's mom - also doing very well! She has two chemo treatments left, once next week and then right after Christmas, and then she has to start radiation in January. She's been trying to convince us all that her hair is going to come back red but I don't think anyone is buying it.
Laurie's brother - unfortunately it doesn't look like Cory and his wife are going to be able to reconcile, or at least not anytime soon. Cory moved out several weeks ago and he and his wife are still communicating and trying to make sure all the bills, etc. are being taken care of, but there is a lot of pain and resentment in that relationship and they are considering divorce. Their kids are 4 and 5 and of course are hearts go out to them, having to be stuck in the middle of their parent's problems. Please continue to pray for their family.
Mark's dad - I sent an email to many of you a few days ago asking for prayers for Mark's dad when he began vomiting blood and was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer. Since then Frank has been admitted to Mercy in Sioux City (actually he was flown there via helicopter) and he had emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. As of today he was still in the ICU but it sounds like he's feeling better and starting to ask about the Hawkeyes. :) Big shocker there! So far he has required 12 pints of blood, which is kind of scary since the whole body only holds about 8! That was a pretty serious condition and it will take a good long time to heal. Right now Mark's brother is staying with their mom until Frank is feeling better and then hopefully we'll all be able to come home for Christmas to help out too. Please also continue to pray for both Frank and Wilma and all their kids as they continue to deal with Wilma's diagnosis. It's obviously very stressful for everyone and we appreciate your prayers.
I think that's it for today! Very short and sweet but I guess that's okay for once. :) Have a fantastic holiday season!
Laurie
Sean - doing very well. Praise God that his last set of labs came back negative - he had tested trace positive for that EBV again and I didn't want to start getting the CAT scans all the time again. Despite lots and lots of viruses going around at school he's been very healthy and he's only had a handful of accidents the whole year so far! Yea!
Grace - turned one a few days ago! :) She's home sick today, which is why I finally have time to blog, but she's already feeling better. I think she must have been exposed to rotavirus, which can be kind of nasty, so I'm glad she's handling it well.
Jacob - also doing awesome. Loving school, his friends, going to the library, all that good stuff.
Shadow - misses Mark and doesn't like being by himself during the day but otherwise pretty happy. :)
Laurie - loves the new job but not the tornado-disaster of a house that comes with working full-time.
Mark - loves both his new jobs! He's starting to get worried that the AccountTemps job is going to end soon and they haven't started interviewing for the permanent position yet, but so far he's still there. Our biggest issue is still the lack of insurance - we really need some and soon! He definitely likes the UPS gig out at the airport too. It's getting kind of cold lately but he still really enjoys it.
Laurie's grandmas - both doing really well! It was nice getting to see them at Thanksgiving again.
Mark's mom - also doing very well! She has two chemo treatments left, once next week and then right after Christmas, and then she has to start radiation in January. She's been trying to convince us all that her hair is going to come back red but I don't think anyone is buying it.
Laurie's brother - unfortunately it doesn't look like Cory and his wife are going to be able to reconcile, or at least not anytime soon. Cory moved out several weeks ago and he and his wife are still communicating and trying to make sure all the bills, etc. are being taken care of, but there is a lot of pain and resentment in that relationship and they are considering divorce. Their kids are 4 and 5 and of course are hearts go out to them, having to be stuck in the middle of their parent's problems. Please continue to pray for their family.
Mark's dad - I sent an email to many of you a few days ago asking for prayers for Mark's dad when he began vomiting blood and was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer. Since then Frank has been admitted to Mercy in Sioux City (actually he was flown there via helicopter) and he had emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. As of today he was still in the ICU but it sounds like he's feeling better and starting to ask about the Hawkeyes. :) Big shocker there! So far he has required 12 pints of blood, which is kind of scary since the whole body only holds about 8! That was a pretty serious condition and it will take a good long time to heal. Right now Mark's brother is staying with their mom until Frank is feeling better and then hopefully we'll all be able to come home for Christmas to help out too. Please also continue to pray for both Frank and Wilma and all their kids as they continue to deal with Wilma's diagnosis. It's obviously very stressful for everyone and we appreciate your prayers.
I think that's it for today! Very short and sweet but I guess that's okay for once. :) Have a fantastic holiday season!
Laurie
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