Matt, Lena, and Kids: January 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

H O M E

It is so nice to be HOME! It has been a crazy few weeks and I have a few days at home . . . so exciting! I should be doing other things, but . . . not right now.

Since getting home from the hospital, we have had Kael back to clinic twice. Last Tuesday we went to get started back on Chemo and do a backpoke. We finally got to see his DR!!!! She was not excited to start him back on chemo because of the pox that were still visible. She decided against the backpoke as well. She gave him another week off of meds. The steroids we give him every month are like pouring "petro on a fire" (the dr.'s words) to a kid that has/had the chickenpox. So absolutely no steroids! She also said that the Acyclovier (anti-viral) is truly a miracle drug. Kids with leukemia and chicken pox wouldn't survive without it. I am so glad we found this out after we were home! The Acyclovier is hard on the liver and kidneys and she blames it for the kidney problems in the hospital not the Motron. Kidney function is back to normal. Yesterday we took him back to clinic. She was still not happy with the way the pox look on his arms but is nervous about staying off of chemo much longer (as are we). He had a CBC (blood draw) done and got his Vinc while we were in clinic. We started him back on his meds 100% last night. If he is not able to handle all of it we will adjust it accordingly. Since the virus stays in your body she worries that something will bring it back to the surface if we are not careful. She told me that his case was quite severe and we were just lucky that we didn't have liver issues as well as brain issues (another thing I am glad we learned after the fact!). Stinkin' chickenpox!! She says no school until his backpoke in three weeks and then we will assess the situation. This was an answer to our prayers. We are debating on whether to send him back at all. I am upset about the way things were handled at the school and the lack of concern since. I hope to get ahold of the school nurse sometime this week and plead my case. I stink at being his teacher! We have already had tears this morning . . . and I'm not even going to tell you if they were mine or his!

I have to give a big THANKS to my friend HOLLY. She was willing to drop everything and go to Salt Lake yesterday with me. I really needed it! THANKS SO MUCH!!

It has been a crazy couple weeks around here. Trying to catch up for lost time at the hospital and then getting back into a regular routine:

Monday, January 18

Holiday for some. Laundry. Grocery shopping. Matt took his weekly Idaho trip.

Tuesday, January 19

Clinic. (Big snowstorm) Dropped Matt off at the airport so he could fly to

Seattle for company meetings.

Wednesday, January 20

FB Meeting. They recently roped me in to being the Cache County Farm Bureau Secretary. I am such a rookie that it is pretty stressful. I hope it gets better:) THANKS to HOLLY for keeping my little boys that day.

11:30 p.m. Yes, they should be in bed but what are my kids doing? Sneaking out of their beds and climbing on the washer to get the toothpaste that mom hides from them

because they eat it like candy.

Thursday, January 21

More snow. Mom's Birthday. What a great mom I have! Pack for the weekend (FB meetings in Bryce Canyon). Dinner to a family in the ward. Check Matti out of school and head for Rhonda's. Suppose to pick Matt up at the airport. Decide it is best for me to get to Rhonda's before it storms again and the roads freeze. He rides to Richfield with a co-worker and spends the night. Get word that they have closed the roads into Bryce Canyon, worst storm in 30 years.

Quite a storm but it made beautiful scenery!

Friday, January 22

Take a walk with my little sis. Let 5 kids run the house with a sleeping Nate while we enjoy a few minutes together. Loved it, thanks Rhonnie:) Head for Richfield to pick-up Matt. Arrive in Bryce a few hours late. Enjoy meetings and getting to visit and meet new people.

Saturday, January 23

Finish up meetings and head for home. Pick-up kids and return home @ 9:00 p.m.

THANKS to RHONDA and JAMIE for keeping my kids!!!!

Matti and SeOnna with Oreo (SeOnna's toy dog). They dressed it up and packed it around in a purse. They had a blast with that tiny thing!!

Sunday, January 24
Grandpa Hunt's Birthday. Sleep IN!! until 8:00 a.m. My week to stay home with Kael (yay!) Matt attends church meetings. I start laundry after realizing he is leaving again this week and there are no clean clothes in this house! Feel guilty all day. Is this really a case of the 'ox being in the mire'? or just the cow getting stuck in the crap?

Monday, January 25

Happy Birthday Julie, Amy, and Kevin. Clinic. Matt in Idaho.

Tuesday, January 26

Happy Birthday Rawlin. Matt leaves for Indiana until Thursday. I should be doing taxes . . . laundry . . . dishes . . . cleaning house . . . ect. Enjoying just being here for a few minutes. Matti turns 9 on Friday. The kids and I are heading to Gma Platt's for the weekend for my Grandma's 85th Birthday Celebration (Saturday the 30th). Can't wait to see cousins and family that I rarely get to see. Need to squeeze in some party time for Matti before we leave. Hope to see Matt for a few hours in between:) . . . . . . . . . . .and Kayson just puked. Welcome home, welcome HOME:)

DISCLAIMER: I only write all of this so that in a few years I can look back and know exactly why they put me in the "Nut House". Oh, and maybe for scrapbooking and journal reasons!
(How about all those Birthday's crammed into a nine-day span!!)

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE THAT MAKES MY CRAZY, WONDERFUL LIFE POSSIBLE!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

We

are HOME!!! yay!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

To Matti:

I found this blog background just for you
I love you,
Love MOM

UpDate

They are keeping us here another day! He needs to start eating and drinking before they will let him go. He ran a fever last night so that is another reason we are staying. He has only had one sip of water so far today (it is 3:30) and as much as I beg and plead - it doesn't help. He has eaten a little bit but not enough to sustain him. Guess we see how the night goes.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Bok-Bok

. . . Chickenpox!!

Kael came home from school on Thursday with a fever that turned into a great case of the chickenpox. After most of the night in the Logan ER, they shipped us off to Primary's for another stay. They initially told us they would not admit him if his white counts were okay. They came back and were decent so we thought for sure they would send us home. Not so. To much risk for secondary infections. He has been quite miserable with fevers and itching. I think he aches as well so it is not a pleasent combination. He has a reaction to the A-Cyclovear (sp) (antiviral) meds so we give him Benedryl to try and combat that. The Benedryl helps with the itchings though so that is a good thing:) The first few days his fevers were up to 106. I know that freaks all of you (and me) out but here it is a daily occurance, the Dr.'s and nurses do not get to excited about it. His counts have been really good so they consented to give him Motrin (which is a no-no for immunocompromised kids) to keep the fever down. The Motrin and the Rocephin (antibacteria) have caused the creatin in his kidney's to rise. We have had to take him off of both for now to get his kidney's to return to normal. The Rocephin was a precautionary thing so he didn't get a secondary infection so now we hope that doesn't happen. His platelets keep droping (b/c of the Motrin) but not enough for a transfusion yet, thankfully. He hasn't had much of an appetite because he has some sores in his throat. They are watching for pneumonia as well because you can actually get them (pox) on your lungs and by the time they run their course, you are left with pneumonia. I love how informed I become while I am in here:) Just wish I could retain it and remember it for always, I seem to forget so much!!

Matti came home from school the same day with a stomach bug so I stayed home and Matt brought Kael down. It only lasted overnight (yay) and the kids were good enough sports to let me come down and stay. Matt just left so I am on duty until tomorrow. We are hopeful that they will let us come home then. He is actually in good spirits right now - we just wait and see what the rest of the day brings:)

What a cool ice sculpture!! They have this placed at the North Entrance. I have only been through the south doors the past few times I was here so I haven't got to see it before. If it would have been in the Cache Valley, i'm pretty sure none of it would be melted:) So thankful for the staff at Primary's that does so much to lift the spirits of these sick kids!!

Looking much better:)

La-La wanted a bubble bath while she wasn't feeling well:)

Lot's of bubbles in that big ol' tub for one girl!!

Hmmmm?? That sound really good right now:)

I took a walk this morning before Matt left. I walked to the top of the parking garage of all places. Lame. While I was there I was able to witness the great inversion

but couldn't help snap a few pics.

Thanks to everyone picking up the slack and taking care of my kids. It means so much. One day I hope I will beable to return the favor:)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU