Doctor, Doctor

Some doctors are so good and some doctors...not so much.

The good news is Mikayla's biopsy came back negative. We are so pleased.

Thank you so much for your prayers on her behalf.

Love doctors who really care about their patients.

On the flip side, we had to take Joe to the doctor today.

He has been having really bad headaches..bad enough that they have made him throw up.

It doesn't happen a lot...but he had an episode about a month ago and now two more in the last week.

So, I made an appointment and took him in.

The doctor talked to us for a minute and then looked Joe over.

Then he said..."Well...strep throat is going around, so let's see if he has that."

uh. what?

He doesn't have a sore throat or a fever and has had periodic headaches. But you want to check for strep?

So he comes back in after about 10 minutes and says, "Well, he doesn't have strep."

well, duh.

so...he's all done with us and goes to leave and I say...uh...he's having headaches and he's throwing up and the doctor looks at me and says, "I don't think he has a brain tumor."

OHMYWORD.

I don't think he has a brain tumor either, you moron.

I think he's having headaches and they are making him throw up.

Can you give him something for the headaches?

"Oh, sure. Just a second."

Seriously.

How can a doctor like that continue to practice medicine?

We will be avoiding all future contact with this particular doctor.

Strength and Beauty

Mikayla had the surgery yesterday to remove the mole from her leg. It has been sent off for a biopsy and we feel confident everything will be fine.

Mikayla is doing well, however, the remaining scar is a little more than we thought it would be.

(photo below)

We are grateful for doctors and medicine and good health.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.




Don't look if you're sensitive:

Flying Colors

Little Miss Katie had tubes put in today. 

I actually think it was more traumatic for me than it was for her. (At least she got a popsicle when it was all over.)

She has long had a distrust of doctors but we have finally convinced her that doctors are very nice and really want to help us.

So...we got up early...got everyone ready and dropped off at the neighbor's to await the bus while we drove to the surgery center.

We got all gowned up and had some time to chill in the playroom.

Then they came to get us for the surgery.

Everything was going great until we hit the OR.

Katie knew immediately that this was not someplace she wanted to be and she lost it.

Oy vey.

Why the heck did I think I could do this?

She started flailing her arms and legs and screaming bloody murder.

They asked me to pin her down while they got the mask on her and put her under. She would not be consoled.

Even after she stopped struggling and was obviously under she continued to cry.

I really did not want to leave her while she was still crying, but the anesthesiologist said that she no longer knew I was there and that I should leave. It was so hard.

Seriously...what was I thinking?

But...she was done in less than 10 minutes and super chipper. No ill effects from being under.

The first thing she said was, "Dad, why are you talking so loud?"

lol! Her hearing test showed she had a temporary hearing loss...so we hope this means that too has been taken care of.

Now...our only hope means that she too will no longer be quite so LOUD.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

I know it's only a minor surgery, but I still worried and it helped knowing you were thinking of us.

xo

Here We Go Again

Look at this happy face.

She is always a ray of sunshine, but the poor thing has been suffering from fluid in her ears -- she has actually suffered a temporary hearing loss because of it.

So...we finally got to see the specialist today and the verdict was another set of tubes.

I hate the idea of her having surgery again, but at the same time, I know it will be such a relief to her.

She has been complaining that it  hurts or that she can hear her own voice in her ears -- a little katie echo.

Not to mention, because she can't hear...she's the loudest girl around -- by a lot.

So...April 8. We'll keep you posted.

dang it all

We've got the ickie sickies here...and the kids are passing it around.

heaven help us.

Down But Not Out

So I broke my ankle.

Doing what you ask?

Walking.

I know. It isn't very exciting.

Troy says I am uncoordinated.

I can't disagree.

But I think of this as more of an unfortunate accident than any actual impairment on my part.

I was thinking I could get a lot done during this forced down time, but I can't sit at my computer and Mikayla's laptop does not have any of my photos or software on it, so I have been reading.

Which...is not a bad way to spend my time, but I am feeling slightly less than productive.

I am scheduled to see the orthopedist on Monday, so hopefully things will be better after that.

If you can think of a better story for me to tell people as to how I broke my ankle, I would love your input.

Holy Smokes

I did not realize how long it's been since I posted.

Things have been crazy.

In the last month:

1. Troy has taken 4 trips. Chicago, Brussles, London and Paris.

2. Emma and Mikayla have had several track meets. Emma actually did well enough to qualify to run the mile at Regionals!

3. The middle schoolers auditioned for the school play. The play is Beauty and Beast and the kids are super excited! Emma was cast as a shephard. Joe was cast as Chip. And Mikayla was selected to be Head Tech/Stage Manager.

4. Mikayla turned 14. Wow. I feel really badly that she did not get her own post...so look for something on that soon. She is growing up way too fast for my taste.

5. I have sewn five halloween costumes, several pillow case dresses and hope to do a few more in the next few days.

6. I have had sevearl photo shoots. I really love that I can combine my passion and my work into something wonderful.

7. I have been sick for more than two weeks, and now finally feel like I am on the mend.

There is more. Much more. But I know you're asleep already.

So I will vow to do better and see if I can find a way to add a few more hours to my day.

xo

By the Numbers

I know i've fallen off the face of the earth. So...here it is...by the numbers:

In May:

1 ER visit
2 trips away from home
3 birthday parties
4 field trips
6 doctor visits
8 photo shoots
9 baseball games
11 school functions
12 piano lessons
27 hours spent working at the middle school on the play

I know I'm missing stuff...but that looks like the highlights.

Hopefully, I can come back soon with pictures.

I Give New Meaning to the Word Hot

I had a medical test today where they injected a radioactive material into my veins so they could look at my heart.

It was seriously weird. They kept the medicine in a special metal tube and techs called "nukes" come to administer the stuff.

You watch how the treat everything...and then they put that stuff inside you?

Yeah.

Everything is fine.

My heart is working great...but for the next 30 days I have to beware of going into a federal building or airport cause I might set off the security alarms.

Now that's hot.

cough. cough.

cough.

Fighting ickie sickes.

Losing.

cough.




ETA: totally whining.

we're fine.

Paranoia?

So, talk of the swine flu is reaching epic proportions.

It's on the news. It's in the newspaper. A letter has gone home from school. People are talking about it at church.

So, yesterday, Joe, who has really bad allergies, was coughing a little.

He said he didn't feel well and went off to bed.

Not a minute passed when Mikaya came up to me with a very concerned expression on her face..."Mom, does Joe have the swine flu?"

ack. no.

p.s. He's fine.

**cough** man cold **cough**

Well, I have a little catching up to do on my 365 photos...but before I do, I just wanted to say that life as we know it has come to halt here at our house.

Why?

Because Troy has a man cold.

A man cold?

Oh wait. In case you are not familiar with this "brink of death" type illness...please watch this, which I have totally stolen from Andrea's blog.



Does every man behave this way when struck with an illness? Let me know.

Okay. Catching up.

65/365 (3/6) Cousin It



We are growing out Katie's hair. Here's the post shower, pre-hair do phase. eek.

66/365 (3/7) The Temple

These photos are in the previous post.

67/365 (3/8) Besties



We had Andrea and Rob over. The kids all get along so well...everyone has a buddy. Katie and Anna are so funny together, and Anna is actually one word that Katie knows. Double trouble, for sure.

68/365 (3/9) Train Up A Child



Don't you love that age where the children not only want to do chores, they BEG you to allow them to help? Sigh. This age passes soooo quickly.

It's Not Paranoia, It's Not!

All week, my only goal has been to go to the gym...and all week something or someone has thwarted my plans.

Two snow days this week did not help.

So, when I got up this morning I was determined that I would get to the gym today.

Troy got off to work.

Mikayla got off to her school.

Josh, Emma, and Joe all got of to their school.

Then I set about getting Becky and Katie ready for the day.

But, it wasn't meant to be.

Becky has pink eye.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Where the heck did she get pink eye?

ack. So a couple more days at home now.

Maybe it's a sign?

Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

Well, I am on the road to recovery, just in time for others in the house to get sick.

Isn't that how it always is?

I actually spent Thursday shopping for all new pants for Josh.

57/365 (2/26) The Great Pants Mystery of 2009


Now really. I don't mind shopping. Some might even say that I enjoy shopping. I don't even mind replacing things for the kids as they wear them out...goodness knows, the knees in pants aren't what they used to be.

But, this particular shopping trip was not one due to any growth spurt on Josh's part, but rather a great mystery in our household.

You see, Josh started out the school year with 10, maybe even 12 pairs of pants. Plenty enough to see him through the school year, holes and all.

But, yesterday, I noticed that Josh was once again wearing the same pair of pants that he had been wearing for the last several days...and I told him he should go put on another pair of pants.

Well, pretty soon Josh is walking around the house with NO pants at all. Yeah.

"Dude. Where are your pants?"

"I don't have any."

"You don't have any?" (insert suspicious, squeaky voice here.)

"Nope."

Sure enough, after searching his bedroom, under his bed, in his closet, and through all the laundry, Josh in fact only has ONE pair of pants.

WHAT?

And he does not know where they have all gone.

Seriously.

Has he been coming home pantless and I just haven't noticed?

Where does 10 pair of pants disappear to?

Has the dryer got sick of stealing socks, and moved on to bigger and better?

I just don't know.

But, please, if you have seen Josh's pants, send them our way!

Well, That's Another 10 Years, GONE

Let me start by saying that everything is fine.

Then let me say that last night took 10 years off my life!

Our sweet Becky had a seizure. And it was a doozy!

Now you know that we are experienced at the seizure thing. Between Mikayla, Emma, and Becky, this was our 13th seizure. That being said, it is never any easier to deal with, and it always seems like each new seizure has something new that we haven't seen before.

The crazy thing is, we were just commenting in December, when Becky turned three, how fortunate we felt that we hadn't had to deal with Becky having a seizure, and how we didn't have to worry about it anymore. Of course, Beatty family karma says, now that you have uttered the words, let me prove you wrong!

And now that it has happened again, I am going to be a wreck whenever Becky or Katie gets sick until they are well past their fifth birthdays!

For those of you who haven't been through this:

What the girls had was a febrile seizure that is brought on by a sudden spike in temperature. It isn't the severity of the fever, but the sudden onset that causes the seizure, e.g. 99 to 103 in 60 seconds. I was once holding one of the girls at the onset of a seizure, and I actually felt the heat flare up around their body.

The seizures happen because the insulation around the nerves in the brain is not yet fully formed, and they can't handle the extra heat - so the body's defense mechanism is to seize. There really is very little risk in the seizure itself unless they stop breathing or it's excessively long (more than 15 minutes). They are then at a slight elevated risk to develop a seizure disorder later in life, and have a 25 % chance of having another febrile seizure.

Becky's seizure was scary because (for us) it was long. Over 10 minutes. She also turned blue, although she was breathing - barely. On top of all that, because she had been in the bath when the seizure started, she got really cold, and when the seizure ended, she shivered violently for another 20 minutes.

It also took her a long time to come back to herself after it was over. She was so still and quiet. It was a good 1 1/2 before she even spoke - which for our little miss, is definitely the longest she has even been silent during waking hours!

BUT, everything is fine. And we will count our blessings. Thank goodness she was with Mikayla when it happened. Mikayla noticed right away that something was wrong. She saw Becky slump over and tried to get her attention. After calling Becky's name a couple of times and getting no response, she dragged Becky out of the tub and into the hall where she could call her dad.

What a girl! I can't even begin to express how blessed I feel that she is so incredibly mature and put together. We already have people asking when she can start babysitting. Just for the record: 9 months, 7 days, 12 hours, 37 minutes, 26 seconds. (Not that we're counting.)

And thank goodness for our friends! Paul and Sarah were over for dinner, so we were able to leave the kids in their capable hands and rush to the hospital. And somehow, our crazy friends managed to take care of our kids, clean the house, and even got flowers! (I know some of you are secretly thinking that this was all just a ploy to get the dishes done...humm...)

And then Ben came right over to the hospital so Becky could have a blessing.

What would we do with our friends? Since we don't have any family close by, it is one of our greatest blessings to have friends like these!

We're grateful for all of you who love us. We love you too.