Fun Sunny Sunday

Today was another fun and productive day!

We started the morning with a great service at Church and a decision to have a picnic lunch in the park, per Eli's request :-)  When we got home from church, the kiddos went outside to play while we packed the lunches.  Lukey came in complaining that his tummy hurt but there was no fever and he seemed okay so we suggested he hang out inside for a bit.  Garrett was assembling our new outdoor chest for toys and Lukey decided to be his helper ~ he ran upstairs to get his tool box and came down announcing, "okay Daddy, I got my tools so we can work now!" The most precious part was that Garrett actually borrowed Lukey's plastic hammer, needless to say, that was a big hit!

After putting together the "treasure chest" as Luke called it, Lukey laid down on the ground.

He just wasn't himself.  I asked if he wanted to take a nap and he said yes  ~ it was 11:30!

The bigs were busy, and lunches were made so G and I decided to clean up the back patio.  My amazing big brother dropped off his pressure washer for us to borrow and it worked great!!!

The bigs were starting to get anxious so at 1:15 I went up to check on Luke, he said he didn't want to go to the park, he just wanted to stay in bed so we decided G would take the bigs and I would stay with Luke.  Alli was NOT happy with this arrangement and within 15 minutes Luke came downstairs and was all smiles ready to go to the park so off we went figuring he was just cranky when he first woke up, after all there was no fever or any other signs of illness . . . 

As soon as we got to the park, all three kiddos took off running to play while 

G and I set up our picnic blanket and babysat Alli's doll.  

They were having so much fun going down slides and being monkeys.

It was going so well until we heard crying and Eli was running toward us . . . 

Yep, Lukey threw up on the play structure and I managed to get a picture even though I didn't know it what was happening, I was just excited to get all three in on shot.  Little did I know.

Thankfully, we were at the park right by Ducky Gramma and Papa's house so Lukey and I went there after trying to clean the play structure.  Poor guy did NOT feel good :(  He sat with me and watched a movie while I washed our coats at my folks' (they were both covered in vomit).

G and the bigs stayed at the park for another couple of hours having a blast.

Eli introduced himself to some little boys and joined their football game, while Alli played on the monkey bars and enjoyed the time with her Daddy.  Then all three of them went to the batting cages and had fun hitting balls.

They walked over to my folks' house and we drove home.

It was so precious to hear Alli reading Eli one of his favorite Easter books "Jelly Bean."

G leaves tomorrow for a two week stint in San Diego for the Air Force so it was the perfect family day.  Sadly, poor little Luke's tummy is still pretty upset, even small amounts of water are making him sick :(  I went over to warn his best buddy's mom only to find out that his little buddy started throwing up this afternoon too ~ poor little ones!  

Hopefully, it passes quickly for both of them and they don't share with anyone.

Home and Praising God ~ NO DIABETES!!!

I apologize for not updating again yesterday but it was such an emotional roller coaster that G and I were completely drained by the end of the day.  Let me start with the GREAT news ~ they do not believe Alli has diabetes but is a rare one whose illness stressed her little body enough to mimic it.  Thank you God!!!  Now for our roller coaster of a day . . .

The day began with Alli begging to go to ballet.  Her fever was down but I still didn't think it was a great idea.  I decided to let her get in her outfit and by the time she was dressed, her energy was zapped.  She agreed ballet was a bad idea.  We went to see Dr. D. about the fever that wasn't letting up (she'd had it since Monday with little relief).  She has a chest cold but Dr. D. didn't think that would account for the high fevers and he wanted to rule out a a UTI.  I thought it was odd since she didn't seem to be having any issues there but what do I know.  Boy did things change quickly in that room!  We were told the urine test would take about 10 minutes.  Within 3 minutes, the nurse, lab tech and Dr. D. had come in the room asking all sorts of questions about her eating, drinking, energy, etc.  I was shocked and had little idea of what was going on but could tell it wasn't good.  They indicated that she had a lot of sugar and protein in her urine (I knew enough from my pregnancy check-ups that we were talking about diabetes).  They immediately did a blood glucose test ~ 173.  Again, I had no idea what that meant but Dr. D. said he believed she had early onset diabetes and I had to take her to Mary Bridge Children's ER immediately and he would call to let them know we were coming.  He told me it was not a complete emergency and I had time to drop off Eli and pack a bag as he suspected we would be there for a few days, but we needed to get there in the next hour or so.  Alli had no idea what was going on and I mustered all of my acting skills to make sure she wasn't concerned.  A call to a good friend so I could have a minor breakdown, then a stop at my parents to drop off Eli and we were headed home to pack our bag.  I called G to let him know what was happening and he was on his way to meet us at Mary Bridge.  Alli thought it was cool that she and Mommy were packing a bag with her books, bathrobe, slippers and pjs.  Right as we're leaving, Alli tells me she's hungry.  That was my first real panic moment (not in front of her!) as I suddenly realized, I didn't have a clue what she could eat anymore.  I knew sugar was bad for diabetics but I have no idea what doesn't have sugar.  I told her she could have her water and we would ask the doctors what we could eat.  Keep in mind, she hadn't eaten since 8:30 a.m., and the poor thing didn't get to eat until after 7 p.m. last night.

When we got to Mary Bridge, they brought us back immediately to check her vitals and take another glucose test ~ 133 at this point.  We were taken back to a room that was less than pleasant.  The child in the room next to us appeared to be there for mental issues and was restrained (we didn't see anything but boy could we hear it).  Poor Alli didn't know what to think!  Thankfully, they moved us to a different room, far away.

The resident doc had a fabulous bedside manner and had Alli smiling.  By this point, G and I were confused (and starting to feel hopeful) as no one seemed to be focusing on the diabetes issues but more interested in her fever (102.8 at Mary Bridge) and cold . . . or so we thought.  The resident said he was going to talk to his attending.  We figured maybe that would be it.  Yeah, we were naive.  He came back just moments later with the attending, an older doc who looked a little like Santa and he also had a fabulous bedside manner.  Unlike everyone else, he got right into the diabetes and told us that based on the tests at Dr. D's, he was certain she had it.  In fact, he said if she didn't, they would be scratching their heads.  Their plan was to do blood and urine tests not to confirm it (they believed she had it) but to determine whether she needed to be admitted to the ICU or could be on the regular floor.  G and I were in shock.  We had just been told our baby girl had a disease that would change her life drastically.  I was instantly thinking about how to protect her ~ how I would be policing all of her food, terrified that someone might inadvertently give her a cupcake at preschool, wondering how to explain it to her.  Throughout it all, Alli was a trooper, she did not want to be poked again but did so great when they placed the IV. 

Poor kid was hungry, tired and uncomfortable.  She finally fell asleep while watching the Care Bear movie a little before 5 p.m. and slept through the doc coming into the room scratching his head!!!  The tests were showing diabetes was unlikely!!!!  He actually came into the room saying he had good news and bad news.  G and I both assumed the good news was she didn't have to go to the ICU.  Turns out the bad news was they had no idea what was wrong with her ~ at that point, we didn't care.  We were just so happy that it wasn't diabetes.  We had to wait for one more test that would tell them her glucose levels from the previous couple months.  We finally got that result around 7 p.m. ~ she was averaging a sugar level of 97, definitely not diabetes.  Praise God!!! 

Now, it wasn't all great news and we are still a bit concerned as they told us that this is rare and her little body "spilled the sugar and protein" due to the stress of being sick.  The doctor said this type of diabetes has an autoimmune aspect and can be triggered by an illness.  Because her body reacted this way (which apparently is not typical at all), they believe she may have a "tendency" towards diabetes and we will need to be very aware of symptoms.  They are also sending us back to Dr. D first thing next week for further testing.

Now, we are thankful and scared.  In addition to see Dr. D for further testing and monitoring, we will be meeting with a nutritionist just to get a better handle on all of this as we realized we know so little.

Thank you all for your prayers!

'lil miss sickie and her sidekick

Poor Alli has been sick all week with a nasty cold and fever.

Very little energy so countless hours have been spent in bed watching Disney movies.

Today, Eli decided he would "help" by keeping her company ;-)

I'm not so sure Alli appreciated his attempts at sibling love. 

Poor kid.

a rough patch

I promise to update very soon with some great stories and pictures from Thanksgiving (and Halloween too for that matter!) but right now I just wanted to let you know that we need some prayers or happy thoughts.  On Wednesday, I began experiencing a tremendous amount of pain and bleeding, which could be normal but got progressively worse.  Yesterday, the pain was so great I could barely stand or walk and I began vomiting.  G and I spent 6 hours at the ER, where it was determined that I have developed a uterine infection :(  I am on very strong antibiotics and pain medications now and have been ordered to rest for at least the next three days, at which time I need to go back to my doctor.  Definitely frustrating but we are glad to know there was a reason for the pain, fever, etc.  We have once again been reminded of how fortunate we are.  Yesterday, it was clear that we needed medical advice and we tried for over an hour to contact the OB on call with no success so I took advantage of our friends R and L (R is an OB).  He was on call at his hospital but his wonderful wife called him and had him call me.  You know you're feeling really lousy when you are willing to talk about your symptoms with your friend's husband!  He told us he was concerned about infection and suggested we get checked out quickly (he was right!)  As it became obvious that we needed to go to the hospital, our family dropped everything to take care of Alli and Eli.  Then, last night, our dear friend and neighbor Jenn, kindly "babysat" me while G took clothing and pjs over to the kids since I was so drugged (five doses of IV pain and nausea meds had me quite loopy!).  This is not fun (stating the obvious I suppose) but once again, God has shown us how he is taking care of us every step of the way by putting these wonderful people in our lives.  We feel very blessed to know all of you!  Please pray that this physical ordeal passes soon so we can figure out a way to move forward.

never a dull moment in casa de fisher

I've been working from home all week as G had to travel to MN for work.  Let me just say that being a single parent is HARD ~ wow!  Makes it even harder when you get sick :(  Yesterday afternoon, I just started feeling yucky ~ nothing specific but just not myself.  Then my stomach started to hurt and by 4 p.m. I was vomiting (I know, gross) and it didn't let up.  I finally called my mom at 6 p.m. to come help me with the kiddos since all I could do was lay on the ground.  She is a saint and gave both kids their baths and put them to bed.  I had a fever, chills and could not keep anything down, including water.  I was hoping that I would feel better after a good night's sleep and maybe I would have if I had a good night's sleep but that didn't happen.  I was sick all night.  I called my dad a little before 7 a.m. to ask him to take me to urgent care, hoping they would give me something to stop the vomiting.  I figured I may be a little dehydrated and may need some fluids but didn't really think it was that big of a deal.  So we get to urgent care and they started taking my vitals and doing the exam.  The doc said I was severely dehydrated and needed to get to the ER.  Okay, fine.  I still just wanted something to stop the vomiting.  Then he tells me that I have to go by ambulance because my vitals are so screwy ~ agh!  I told dad he could go home and I would call him later ~ no sense him sitting in the ER with me.  So . . . 1 ambulance ride complete with oxygen, 4 bags of IV fluids, 2 rounds of Zofran, and 1 dose of Dilaudid later, I finally felt well enough to go home.  I have to see my doc tomorrow to make sure all is well but I'm pretty sure it was just a stomach bug.

Then to top it off, when Alli woke up from her afternoon nap, she had a fever of 103.5 ~ YIKES!  Fortunately, alternating Tylenol and Motrin has helped and she's now down to 99.  I'm praying she doesn't start vomiting too.

G gets home tomorrow evening and we cannot wait.  What a week! ;-)