Bonding Through Sickness

Kloey got sick. 

Really sick.

And I didn't know how sick.

She didn't tell me.

Because she didn't know how.

Trauma affects my kids in all different ways.

For Kloey, it means language.

By the time I realized that she was super sick, she was suffering.

Silently.

We had a med-check appointment with her mental health practitioner and after we talked about telling mom when you don't feel good, we went directly across the street to the walk-in clinic. The kid had a throat that was screaming hurt with pus oozing and not once did she ever tell me that her throat was sore.

Ouch. Wait. Strep test. Wait. Mono test. Wait.

Joshua was with me and took pictures to pass the time.

  

There is more to the story. Much more.

We walked out of there with a prescription for good old amoxicillin. 

Can I tell you that this girl has never been sick (EVER) in the six years I have known her. I have a theory about why. My nurse practitioner nodded her head and said interesting. I don't think she believed me. I think trauma kids WILL themselves not to be sick. Or tough it out. Or something. 

We have seen major progress with Kloey over the last six months emotionally, reaching out and working on her relationships especially with Mom. And now the vulnerable Kloey is sick.

Over the next two days, Kloey went further downhill. This is the part about adoption and not having the whole story that is hard. It didn't take long to figure out that she is highly allergic to penicillin. Rash - check. Confusion - check.  Nausea - check. New med and 24 hours later she was on the mend.

Except.

After 10 days on a different medication, the eleventh day presented a systemic rash.

Kloey thinks she has a foot disease. It is stressing her out. Poor dear.

While I wouldn't wish sickness on anybody, I am glad to walk through this with Kloey. To help her get better. To show her that I care. Deeply.

I wish you could see the look on her face when I stop everything and do what I can to make her feel better. Priceless.

The last six years of hard work....sometime excruciatingly hard....

 

She is worth it. A child of God, just like me.

Bonding takes time. 

And today, I feel like the cords are strengthened a bit more.

Quiet Weekend

 Since Joshua is on the mend and laying low, 

we are having a laid-back-quiet-kind of weekend.

 The big kids have been hanging around and they are a lot of fun.

The best part? They like each other.

Saturday was project day. With such an excellent workforce,

repairs were made at a slow but steady pace.

 We have the thriving three together this weekend.

 We had to try these for ourselves. After a little experimenting 

with microwave melting, Erika created a super fun treat.

 There are NONE left.

 If you are vertically challenged at some point in your life, 

you may need to creatively get the job done.

 Micah prefers to find a place at the sink his own way,

instead of waiting in line.

 Trey was frothing at the mouth.

 And Miss R? She loves to brush her teeth.

 

 9 + 1 under one roof feels really good.

As we all get older, our days of being together under one roof like this are numbered. 

 

I am determined to enjoy:

the laughter, 

playing games, 

singing, 

pretend fights and squabbles,

cookie baking, 

macaroni making, 

PW cinnamon roll assembly. 

 

These are the best days of my life! 

Thankful Thursday

About 6:00pm on Wednesday night, Joshua perked up 

and was ready for his rice and chicken fingers.

Goodness. I have too many of these pictures on my blog. This pulled out from under the sink in the PICU room. I didn't have the nerve to use it and slunk down the hall in the middle of the night. Everybody looked up, surprised to see me since not too many people stay over in that unit.

Thankful Thursday was a whole new day. Pain management is good. We never had to go the morphine route (good for pain, bad for the heart). Joshua decided it was time to get out of bed...

To go for a walk with Dad. He walks like a little old man -  hunched over, poor little guy.

The people in the PICU were excited to release us. They have only discharged maybe 2 or 3 kids in 10 years. Usually, kids go up to the regular floor for awhile before they get to go home.

Being there in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit was really good and kind of scary all at the same time.  Joshua was put there as a precaution in case there were any complications from his surgery. While we were grateful for the extraordinary care, it reminded me of how fragile Joshua is; how complicated his heart disease is; and how quickly he could deteriorate for lots of different reasons.

We were very thankful that Joshua came through his surgery with flying colors and recuperated beautifully. Thank you for praying for our precious boy.

With a dose of pain meds under our belt, we were released at 11:30 am and wheeled on out of there.

After dinner, everyone got a lesson on making an origami turkey.

 Joshua and I had practiced in the hospital so we were the tutors.

 Quite a flock.

 

While we were waiting for some friends, we got out the instrument bag for the littles and sang a few Christmas songs.

K-2 came over for dessert with their son Peter who is celebrating all the firsts this year. No picture because a bunch of pre-teen girls were busy vying for baby holding rights.

 They had to make their turkeys before they could get dessert.

Oreo cookie ice cream cake, pumpkin and apple pies, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. What a way to end a day filled with thankfulness and praise to God for giving us an abundance of love and filling us with His grace in this wonderful crazy life.

Pre and Post Surgery

We all need comic relief now and again. Look what popped up when I loaded the pictures. Apparently when little boys commandeer the camera, they take pictures of the potty. Isn't that just hilarious?

Not that you needed to see that. We didn't sleep much after 3:00am. Joshua climbed in with me and dozed until the alarm went off at 5:15am. We all took nice hot showers and headed over to the hospital  to check in.

 Back in the beautiful gown.

 What did we do before ipods, those angry things, and solitaire?

 Dad will be going back to the OR.

 After the loopy drugs, we chilled with Power Rangers.
Mandarin is our comfort "food" at times like this.

 Every time I see the date, I remember 22 years ago when Lindsey was born. It was Thanksgiving that year.

 How are you feeling buddy? You are so brave.

 Dad is suited up with his pretty hat and gown.

 Practicing with the mask.

Off to surgery right on time. They kept things moving this morning and we didn't have a whole lot of down time.

The dental stuff went a little longer than planned and we got a tooth out of the deal. They couldn't save one of his baby teeth. Then only an hour later, the pediatric surgeon came out to give us great news. Joshua had his appendix removed but no other work needed to be done. Although his gut is malrotated, it is fixed so his risk of complications is now in the regular population category. Yeah, God. The only way to confirm that was to have the surgery (remained laporoscopic) to physically see the ligaments holding everything.

We are now in PICU and drinking water. He has already asked for his noodles and is very hungry. He is napping on and off. They want to keep a close eye on him post surgery because of his cardiac issues which is why we are in the intensive care unit. Our cardiologist has already popped in. LOVE him. He has our back every time and is a really great doctor! The hope is to go home tomorrow. We only have rain here but are looking forward to heading inland to see lots of the white stuff.

Thank you for your prayers. It is as good as it could be.

Here we are back at the Ronald McDonald House for the second time in two months. We LOVE this ministry/service to the community. We can come and spend the night prior to surgery instead of getting up in the middle of the night and driving to the hospital for a very early check-in.

Joshua is thrilled to have Mom and Dad to himself. He was even happier to discover that the dinner at the RM house was chicken and rice. He polished that off with a bit of ice cream.

What a difference a few weeks makes. At the end of September, we were so worried about him going into the hospital because he could not understand much English. Today, he understands everything. We went over to the Ambulatory Surgery Unit for a tour tonight. Now we have a good handle on where we have to go tomorrow and what will be happening prior to surgery. I feel a lot better. 

We plan on arriving at the hospital before 6:30am to check in. Joshua is scheduled to be in the operating room for about 3 1/2 hours. We hope to see him shortly after noon time. First up will be the dentist who will fix his teeth and put quite a bit of silver in there. Secondly, the pediatric surgeon will operate on his belly to stabilize the intestines and take out his appendix. (That is my layman's understanding of the Ladd procedure.) We are specifically praying that they will be able to do this operation laparoscopically meaning we can go home the next day.

Joshua rushed us through dinner so he could play a card game with Dad. Last count was one for Dad and one for Joshua.

We checked in at home. We are grateful to Grandma and Grandpa holding down the fort for us and being so willing to go with the flow. Lindsey will arrive sometime after the snowstorm that is predicted for tonight and tomorrow. The kids are looking forward to her famous mac 'n cheese.

I love this little guy. Joshua is a boy loves life, loves people, and has a great sense of humor. He is incredibly brave and trusts us to make good decisions for him. All of this medical care is daunting to be sure, but today in the midst of mounting anxiety, my friend reminded me how far God has brought us. We will put our trust in the One who can handle everything if we let Him. 

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20

Three for Free

The weekend was all about threes.

Kloey has been super sick this week, for the first time since I have known her which has been six years. 

You know when you go to the doctor and they ask you if your kid is allergic to anything? I always squirm in my seat a little and then say, "Unknown." Because I just don't know. This week, we found out that Kloey is allergic to amoxicillin. That was kind of scary. Except she was actually pleased to be allergic to something. Go figure. We all have to be special somehow.

The three girls were invited to an overnight with some friends. I LOVE this age when they are big girls one minute and little girls the next.

I made them stand facing the sun but the view behind was fabulous.

After they were all dropped off and having a good time, I came home to be with all my boys. Six of them to be exact. Lindsey did not come home this weekend so I was really outnumbered. Wowsa.

Bob, Jerrod, and Erik went off to a play at the high school and I got to hang with the little boys.

Joshua has been asking me for a haircut. I was a little nervous about cutting his hair so I put it off. Saturday night, he insisted. I got out the clippers and we set up the barbershop.

Before.

Definitely time.

I was wondering how I was going to keep the victim still and amuse the other two while I was cutting. Camera to the rescue.

One boy - getting his haircut. 

Second boy - on camera. 

Third boy - cleanup.

Joshua has a lot of hair.

When Erik got up this morning and saw Joshua he said, 

"Mom, he doesn't look Chinese anymore."

I think he is adorable.

Best of all, Joshua was pleased,

Next up in the hot seat was Trey.

Ouch. Sometimes a little tugging and pulling is unavoidable. Overall, this was one of the more successful haircuts for Trey with NO crying.

His hair comes off in little mats and is EASY to clean up.

Much better for Trey. Less lumpy.

Last but not least was Micah. 

He wasn't super long but didn't want to be left out.

He is the ultimate moving target.

Smiling for the camera kept him amused.

Three haircuts for free and quality time with my boys, doesn't get much better than that. They rinsed off in the shower, got their jammies on, we cuddled on the couch and watched a movie. The End.