Sick Days, Ice Days and a Little Circus

I've lived in Austin coming up on 18 years now and I have NEVER seen weather so bipolar!
The huge range of temperatures is totally normal; 29 today, 50 tomorrow and close to 80 by the weekend. But this ice business is seriously for the birds.

School has been cancelled at least three times. I had to drive in the Ice Apocalypse to go to work, because let me tell you, surgical patients are like mailmen; Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these people from their elective plastic and back surgeries.

 

Cedar Fever season coupled with this rapid cycling weather has also done a number on the kids with allergies/colds that progress into ear infections and sinus infections.
They've both had one round of antibiotics since Christmas, and I think they are currently working their way toward another round each.

 

So, we have found ourselves iced in/quarantined a few times here recently and the kids did pretty well with quelling their pent up energy.



Snuggling on the couch <3 p="">

"Helping" me sew
He's worse than a cat!

He knows he looks fabulous.

Catfishing

My precious, beautiful loves

One of the days Bubby stayed home sick, the Shriner's Circus had just come to town and they put on an "Elephant Brunch" for the kids.
Bubby, who recently has become OBSESSED with elephants, had to go. 

Studly Muffin!

He loved seeing them so much, we decided to take them to the circus.
Yes, all you tree huggers in Austin, I am with you.
I am not a big fan of the circus because of animal mistreatment and exploitation.
But, your 3 and 5 year olds want to see elephants, you see elephants.
Don't you worry, we will not be patrons any time in the near future.
I was very disappointed in the CONSTANT peddling of cotton candy, snow cones and light up crap.
It was very distracting and too tempting for the little ones.

Not going to lie, I really hoped the tigers would go all Siegfried and Roy on their trainer. I was shocked to see that they actually still hit them with whips. :-(

Same with the camels.

Favorite moments:
Elephants and $5 cotton candy. 

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Houston, Hearts and Hair Cuts

1. Houston
We made our trip out to Houston this week for Liver Clinic. Dr. F and Sarah were excited to see us in the outpatient setting, as we were to see them as well. I half joked, actually was super serious, that regardless of what the labs said, we were not staying...just here to say "hi" quickly followed by "BYE!" Praise the Lord, we were able to laugh that off because Bubby's labs were GREAT! Well, his bili was 0.0, which is super fantastico! Everything else was hovering around where it was the previous week, but a 0.0 bili?! Amazeballs. Yeah, you read that right. Amazeballs. So, the final opinion is this: SOMETHING, SOME THING (William Shatner-like) knocked out a huge percentage of his bile ducts last fall. And whatever that SOME THING was, is now under control and/or gone. Virus? Weird additive in his meds? Other infection? Alien life? We don't know. While I would love to know what the cause of this was, could it have been avoided, can it be avoided in the future; I am just so thankful he seems to be recovering and doing so much better. And, if I've failed to mention it recently, we do have the best liver doc and transplant nurse and team in the world. We aren't just another file, or another patient and their crazy parents. They do truly care. We are so blessed in many ways. Oh, and perhaps second best news, we are going to start weaning the steroids and possibly get rid of that second immunosuppressant!! Hooray!!

My Chuy's Date

NON-jaundiced Bubby.

2. Hearts
Yesterday was Valentine's Day. Emmy was way excited. She was so precious..."Valentine's Day is about LOVING each other!!!" They had a little party at school, in which her Secret Admirer, DaddyDaddy, had a special balloon bouquet delivered. The teachers said she was so excited to get a special delivery and made sure that her classmates knew that those were HER balloons from HER Daddy.






My precious Pumpkin.
Love her so much.











3. Hair Cut
Both kids were in desperate need of hair cuts. Emmy really only needed her bangs trimmed. Heck, I can do that. *Snip, snip* Saved $15. Weston needed a full blown cut, but I was possessed by the idiotic notion that I could do it like Emmy's. What resulted, I can only describe as if Mo (Three Stooges) and Lloyd Christmas (Dumb and Dumber) had a baby...

I messed up bad. REAL BAD. So bad, that when I picked him up early to get it fixed, they brought him out and at first I was like, this bowl-cut, mushroom headed child isn't mine. Oh wait, he sure is. The hair stylist was like WHAT DID YOU DO TO THIS CHILD?! So he got one too many valentines from girls in his class. He loves only the Mommy, ok? Don't judge me. You gotta do what you gotta do. ;-p
Happy to report that it is fixed, and he is a handsome devil again.

Single Parent

That title was a little provocative and perhaps a little bit of hyperbole.
The Daddy has been in "Okamhoma" on business since the 17th.
It's been a long 9 days and we still have 3 more days to go.
Being a parent is hard...being a working parent is really hard.
Being a single, working parent is the hardest thing I've ever done.
AND I work part-time!!
Hats off to all the single parents that have to keep it together at work and then come home and be loving and nurturing to their precious pumpkins.

We miss The Daddy. Lots!

Thankfully, we get to video chat with him every night.
He looks so tired. :-(
Can't wait to have him home Sunday night!!

Weston has been having weekly labs drawn.
His AST and ALT are improving every week. His GGT hasn't really changed much at all.
:-/
But, we are still staying put, so I guess it can't be THAT bad.
AND as long as it's not getting worse, right?

So, this is what I thought nights would be like while Daddy was gone...not so much :-s

We have been trying to keep busy and entertained. Last weekend, I completely went out of my mind thinking that two 4 year olds and a 2 year old would sit still in a movie theater. Not so much...

Exhausted after the movie and ice cream shenanigans.

Bubby refuses to hear that athletic shorts and cowboy boots don't go together.

Check out that bruise.
W rolled out of bed and crashed into nightstand.

Bathtub Rave!!

Pre-bruise cuteness!
Look at my little buns!

You're looking, aren't you?

Paging Dr. House

Day 11 of our captivity...

Got to say, this was not a happy Mommy day.
Lots of "face-palm" and death stares being passed around.

My Mega-Issues of the Day:

1. The GI team did not round on us till after 4pm.
Seriously??
Listen yo, I know we are not the only patients on your list AAAAAAAND I have insider info on how this whole ridiculous dance we call healthcare goes. But, not giving any new information to a patient/parent till late afternoon following a useless weekend?!
Crazy, b***h mama was mounting her broom.
**insert death stare**

2. So, his liver is working just fine (AST/ALT are improving everyday...Praise God!) but, the bile ducts are of concern (GGT).
We're not quite sure...yada yada yada...Vanishing Bile Duct Syndrome (WHAT?!)...possibly related to the amoxicillin and augmentin he took.

**face-palm**

We're back to the antibiotic theory.
(BTW, WHY are these antibiotics on the "ok" list for liver patients? Well, you see, this whole amoxicillin destroying your bile ducts very rarely happens and no one is quite sure why and how and when. Side note, Dear Bubby...Mommy and Daddy are thrilled you want to be an individual and stand out. God didn't bless you for you to blend in and be a follower...just, lets stay away from the bizarre medical anomalies. Huh? Shesh.)

The plan as of 4:30 this afternoon...continue to slowly lower the steroids (even though this is day 5 of the original prescribed course -_- ) and try a new medication, ursidiol, to see if it will help lower the GGT. Ursidiol is actually a med that he was on prior to transplant; it helps stimulate bile flow. 

Gaggle of Doctors:By Wednesday we'll know if we need to do another biopsy.
WHOA! Another biopsy??
GoD:Yes, Crazy, Agitated Mother, another biopsy. If this doesn't work we need another biopsy to figure out what is going on.

**face-palm**

So, you don't see us going home any time this week.

GoD:MUWAHAHAHA!

(Let me just clarify. My beef is not really with the doctors. I know that we are in good hands and they are doing everything in the best interest of Weston. They get the brunt of the frustrations because they are the bearers of "no news". This is day 11 of our incarceration and while the evidence of whatever is happening is dissipating, we still are no where closer to an answer than day 1. FRUSTRATING)

3. Day Nurse
Day Nurse, you and I are going to fight.
Or maybe I'm just going to assume care of my son...

Er'body else uses his PICC for his glucose checks. You, insist on sticking him.
THEN you double stick him with his insulin syringe...twice today!!
And the second time, the insulin didn't even make it in!!
Not to mention making my toddler stare at his food tray while we hunt you down for ten minutes to check his blood sugar before he can eat.
o_o

**death stare**

4. The New Bubby Diet
W is sustaining life on a diet of Pirate Booty, peaches and milk.
Yep.

Where is my kid that ate everything??
Vegetables?
Protein??

Pirate Booty, peaches and milk.

**face-palm**

5. Cafeteria People
WHAT IS YOUR OBSESSION WITH THROWING AWAY FOOD?! 

9:36
We missed breakfast service because Day Nurse slowed us down.
Breakfast service ends at 9:30.

Well, not a huge deal because I don't want you to make anything for me. Just want a cup of grits you got there in that pot.

NO! Breakfast is over! 9:30! It's after 9:30!

Ok. Can I ladle out my own grits? No skin off your back, right?
NO! It's 9:36!! Breakfast is over!
Well, what the hell are you going to do with the left over food??
BREAKFAST IS OVER.

**death stare**

So, when I worked in the schools, a kid could get in line and get a hot meal tray. When they reached the end of the line and it was discovered that they didn't have any money on their lunch account, they promptly took the tray away, gave the kid a cheese sandwich and then 

THREW THE HOT MEAL AWAY.
Seriously?!

Seriously??

I'm going to bed to sleep off some of this crabbiness.

Thank you for the continued support and prayers for my little man. <3>

Labors of a Long Weekend

You can't convince me otherwise; if it is a long weekend, holiday or God forbid both, something awful is going to happen to us. 

But, lets start with the glass half-full...

Precious baby girl has been so sweet lately. The whining and attitude has been less prominent this past week. Why? I don't know. Don't ask! Don't care!

Snuggling with DaddyDaddy after bath

Bubby has convinced me that he has a very verbose internal monologue, but doesn't really have much to say to the rest of us. Everyday he pops out another random word or phrase and as soon as it registers that he said it, it's gone. 

Can't really fault him. 

Introversion is a lost virtue.

Introvert or not, he's still a ham.

She requested her picture to be taken.
Not sure why...or where her pants are.
The face is hilarious.

Saturday night, they are running around like crazy people.

Chasing each other around the coffee table, screeching and goofing around.

Then came the infamous midnight fever.

Poor Weston.

By noon Sunday, he was still running fever with Tylenol on board, lethargic and just really acting odd.

I took him to the little Urgent Care place in the next town over and they took one look at him, in combination with his history, and called Cook's Childrens in Ft. Worth and had the ambulance transport us from the Urgent Care to the ER.

Hours and hours, lab work, X-Rays and a CT of the head and neck later; he has an aggressive case of strep throat.

IV fluid and IV antibiotics has made this little man feel brand new.

We got home around 2:30 this morning and he woke up telling me he was hungry!

I'd be willing to say he was up to 90% of his normal self today.

Cutie Pie Emily stayed with Aunt Susan and Megan and they had a fun girls' night.

Too much fun, evidently!!

In effort to salvage the last few moments of the holiday, we took the kids to ride go-carts.

Emily LOVED it. She rode with both her daddy and myself, and evidently, I was not driving fast enough.

Bubby was not impressed. 

Not sure if that was the 10% talking or if he just isn't all that into that.

We topped it all off with some delicious hot dogs and brats on the grill

Check out those Octopus Hot Dogs!

Quote of the day:

Emily: "Yuck! I don't like french fries!"

What 4 year old doesn't like fries?! We must be doing something really right or realllllllly wrong.

Visitors, Tantrums and Hijinks

It's been a busy couple of weeks.
We had visits from Nana and GD to help keep the Bubby birthday celebration going.

Speaking of Bubby birthday...it is like he turned two and the tantrum switch has flicked on.

Emmy threw screamin tantrums, but Bubby...he throws things. 

Binkies. cups of milk, cutlery, plates of food. 

Ugh.

It's always upsetting to see your baby act like that; but, exponentially more difficult to see Wes, known for being so sweet and loving.

Don't get me wrong, he switches back to the sweet Bubby as quickly as he shifts into monster mode.

Super Cat!
Poor Max. Such a trooper

Do you see it?
Tantrum's a'brewin'

Beautiful Emmy

AAAAAND we're back to the super sweet, silly boy

Finally,

The warm fuzzies:

Daddy Pedicure! <3

Such an awesome DaddyDaddy

Purple piggies!

Catch Up

Bubby:

Monday was supposed to be an awesome day...

His fracture is healing perfectly.

IF he were able to police his own activity, he might have been given a break...

Alas, new cast for another 3 weeks. 

:-(

Trying the blue on

To add insult to injury, he was also feeling under the weather, poor tummy.

Finally feeling like eating...chowing down on some tummy friendly foods.

He looks like such a little boy!! No more Mommy's Baby :'-(

Much to our chagrin, someone has taken to sleeping in our bed again.
My theory is the cast prevents him from getting into the full fetal position, and he gets uncomfortable and wakes up...and won't go back to sleep.

And he still likes to sleep in the middle of the bed, taking up as much room as possible.

Emmy:

Emmy is good, as usual.

You can count on her to stay healthy when everyone is sick and dying.

She's been having a bit of trouble at school...she is expected to lay quietly during nap time.

Well, she doesn't nap aaaaaand she is super hyper.

Bad combo.

Although, I do think it is a bit much to ask a 4 year old to lay still and be quiet for over an hour, going upwards to two hours.

My big girl!!

She told me that she and her Daddy were very busy outside.

She did a pretty good job!
<3

Don't Call CPS!

Poor Bubby!

Our curse has started to affect our monkeys. 

Sunday, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce Wes to the big boy swing. After all, he will be 2 in a few weeks.

I was hovering and barely moving him back and forth.
He was having a blast.

Then, we stopped and went to get off. I let go of the chains for a second and he leaned forward and fell out. 

:-o

Mother of the year.

He cried and cried forever.

Fast-forward to later that evening.

Still guarding and refusing to bear weight.

Our first trip to the Emergency Room.

Look at that crazy hair!

After a 3.5 hours, the X-Rays showed no fractures in the pelvis or femurs. 

We went home thinking he just had a bad bruise. 

Monday he stayed home with Nana while Daddy and I went to work.

Still not walking and very tender on the right leg.

Tuesday, Daddy stayed home with little man and took him back to the ER for more X-Rays.
This time they shot ALL of his leg and what do you know, he has a small, non-displaced fracture in his distal tibia.

Bubby! :'-(

Just chillin' with my broken leg

Splint for 24 hours

Wednesday

Lounging with Mommy, watching cartoons

This afternoon was our appointment with the orthopedist. 

Dub has to wear a full leg cast for TWO WEEKS.

No walking.

He was nice enough to give us a water-proof cast (yay for real baths!!) and let us pick out the colors.

We opted for a manly camo.

I'm a bad ass with my broken leg, camo cast and angry dinosaur

But I have a soft side, too <3