Feeling Better =-)

Well, today's appt was WONDERFUL! Hayley's ped dr was back from vacation! She is so wonderful and up beat! She 'unveiled' Hayley's toe and thought it was cool. UGH. Both Hayley and I finally looked at it and it's definately missing a corner. It has a definate slant to it. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it =) Maybe. I can't tell if her nail is 1/2 gone or all gone. It's a red 'beefy', mess. She will not have to have surgery as of now. Her ped dr even had the podiatrist come take a look-how's that for service? He thought it looked great and they were both noticing how it's still bleeding and shouldn't be after all of these days which is a question I had. We have a RX for Silvadine ? to put on to stop it. It's used for burn victims. We bought our supplies today to bandage her toe. We go back on Tuesday for another recheck. She has to wear her special shoe at least until then. No softball or gym thru next week. We're all in better spirits now! She can take a bath but it's suggested to keep her toe out of the water for pain issues. I change her dressing everyday and it needs air for 20-30 minutes.

On the upside, she's having her friend Marie over for a sleepover!

Hayley's follow up

What a fiasco of an appt! We couldn't see Hayley's regular dr. So the first issue is this dr was going to send us home without even looking at Hayley's toe! He took off the splint and the ace bandage type thing. The gauze the ER wrapped her in was total BLOOD! And to think he was going to send us home w/out changing it! YUCK! What if there was an infection starting??? So, he was a little rough, but we'll deal with this. I asked about crutches or a boot for her to get around in. He suggested I go supply that for her. Not him. Isn't that what a dr's office does? So, on to soaking her foot to loosen the gauze. Fine, I can do that. Well, the biggest problem is that the ER nurse who bandaged Hayley used GAUZE! Well, this now is STUCK to her wound and the dr can't remove it w/out tearing it off her WOUND! This appt just gets better.............so he wanted ME to go home and soak her foot numerous times a day for an hr or 2 and have ME pull it off! Are you kidding????????? And after a few days if we didn't have any luck, come back and he'd do it. I expressed I wasn't real comfortable with that just because this toe has a habit of bleeding for LONG periods of time! Not to mention I don't want to hurt her. Well, he suggested we could stay in a back room and soak it. So, we did this for an hr and half. I caught him in the hallway and explained the situation under the bandage. This is no scratch or stitches, this is a CHUNK out of her toe and it's VERY TENDER. I just wanted to make sure he knew what he's dealing with underneath. SO BE CAREFUL AND GENTLE! The rest of the gauze obviously came off the unwounded parts of her toe. While he was cutting, he must have been a little rough and Hayley screamed and she was scared. Understandably so. So he says 'you need to stop screaming because you're scaring the babies!' I couldn't believe I was hearing what he said. So now the poor kid has gauze STUCK to the wounded part of her toe. And he was going to send me home to deal with this myself. Which I asked him IS soaking going to get this off w/out tearing, bleeding and lots of pain? He wasn't sure. Thanks. Well after this, I found our nurse and explained all of what has happened and I'm not happy with how he's treating her and her toe. I had to speak with the complaints person. Well, now we're on to how best to proceed with this. We could have went home or continue to soak and there is the possibility that we need to give her more novacane to get the rest off and keep her comfortable. I hated to put her thru this again, but I'm trying to do what's best. So, we decided to do novacane and get the rest of the gauze off. A nurse came in to help and I reassured Hayley he would be careful and also telling him to be. Hayley only wanted to know what he was doing and he took it as she's impatient. Well, when someone is injecting 3 shots in your toe, wouldn't YOU want to know when he's done???? His bedside manners were AWFUL! Hayley asked 'what if I scream?' I said 'you go ahead if you need to.' So, she was brave and it ends up she really didn't feel the shots. The 3rd under her toe she did more. I didn't watch as he somehow got the stuck gauze off. Of course it started bleeding again. From the looks on their faces, I don't think they were expecting such a procedure. The ER nurse really screwed up. She should have put this vaseline bandage on so it wouldn't stick to her toe. Well, they ended up giving her a shoe to wear and we need to go back tomorrow for a follow up. I made an appt with Hayley's normal dr. He also had mentioned plastic surgery. So, we'll see what Hayley's dr says tomorrow. Hayley was so scared her jaw started chattering again during the novacane, etc. I told her this was best so now her toe can finally start healing, no soaking and pulling. I still haven't LOOKED at it yet to see exactly how bad it is. I just know the shape of her toe is not round anymore. It's such a bloody, yucky mess. I've seen it but now up close and examining it. Which I will have to after tomorrow when WE start changing her bandage everyday. So she's up and around and doing very well. She deserves to go to her favorite store-Justice! I'll keep you posted as to what news we have tomorrow!

Hayley's Mishap

Ugh, my poor girl! Scott was making her a loft bed on Saturday. It's like a bunk bed but with no bed underneath. Well, we were trying to see if the 2 side frames were even. There was too much space to use a regular level, so we put a shorter board across. Hayley was holding the one end post and I was on the other. Well, the board slipped and came straight down on Hayley's toe. The board had a 45 degree angle. She cried and screamed and I thought the board landed flat on her foot. We soon realized it was more than that. I rushed her into the bathroom as the blood starting gushing off her foot. I had her on my lap with her foot in the tub with a towel on it trying to stop the bleeding. Scott came in a minute later with the part of her toe that had been severed. It was a chunk with 1/2 her nail attached still. Her 3rd toe on her left foot-the top corner came off and 1/2 her nail. I didn't realize this until he came holding the 'piece.' I told him to put it on ice in case it can be reattached. How CSI is that??? We sent Maddy & Brent across the street to Jenny's house while he and I brought Hayley to the ER. We got in to be seen fairly quick as ER's go. Hayley was brave but scared-her jaw kept chattering. I wrapped her in my sweatshirt and sat in the wheel chair with her. The nurses came with warm blankets to cover her. They gave her 2 shots of novacaine on her toe =( The dr's can't reattach the 'piece' as it was a chunk rather than straight through. At least we were prepared! They xray'd her foot and because this chunk was taken down to the bone or the little skin left is barely covering the bone, she has an open toe fracture. The bleeding finally stopped in the meantime but as the nurse cleaned it, it started again. It took 20 minutes to get it to stop. The dr's say her nail SHOULD grow and be somewhat normal. The nail bed was not hit. As for the rest, as she grows, it could grow back. I have not looked closely at it-it was making me sick to my stomach and dizzy. But from what I saw, her toe is not rounded, it's slanted. So hopefully it will fill out as she grows and heals. I think I was coming down from the adrenalin rush of getting her calmed down, holding the towel on her foot and to the ER. I started realizing what happened and the vague glimpses of her toe. It was a bloody mess. She is not supposed to be walking, it can make her toe start bleeding again and if it's anything like Saturday, it won't stop. So, I carried her yesterday where she needed to go. She hobbled here and there. She's not in much pain-I'm surprised. She's on antibiotics because it is a deep wound. We went for a drive yesterday and got ice cream for a treat and to get out of the house that didn't need walking. It was 73 degrees yesterday! She has an appt today with the pediatrician to see how it's healing. I think Hayley bumped it last night as it started to bleed-UGH! It didn't bleed past the bandage she has on, so that's good news. I'm not sure how the appt will go today with the pain and exposing her toe. The kids' are on Spring Break this week, so it's a perfect week to lay low! I will update after her appt.

Hello!

What's the news today.......................Spring has sprung here! Scott cut the grass tonite. It's so long and green! Our trees are blooming and have great flowers on them. The tulips and daffodils are up!!!!! Birds are singing...........we had a woodpecker pecking on our playset over the weekend. I don't think he got very far.

We finally received our 2nd chair and footstool for our den which WAS our computer room. We moved our computer in the basement. It's great to sit in the comfy chair, feet up and read! Hayley has also found her spot in there and likes to read! And speaking of her, her spacer deal is progressing nicely! She's starting to get a space between her teeth. She still talks like she's got a mouth full-it's pretty cute. But she does have a mouth full. Her softball coach wants her to try playing catcher. I think this year they can steal bases so we'll see if she likes playing there. She's in 4th quarter now. The school year is slipping away................another year. We went to her open house at the middle school and she's so excited to go! She's going to play bells this year and percussion next which leads into drums. She's excited for that too. The layout of the middle school is great. One building is 5-6th grade and the other bldg is 7-8th. The buildings are connected but they never mix. The 5th grade is in a 'pod' upstairs and 6th is down. The bus ride should be interesting.......................

Brent is great. School is going smooth for him. He LOVES to read too! His favorite books are the Magic Tree House. He and Hayley compare which books they've read. He's having fun with baseball. He's not sure about playing football this fall. As of now, he doesn't want to. Sign ups are already underway. If he doesn't play, that's fine.

And Maddy................she's great too. She's really coming along in her reading as well. Her teacher says she's doing great in class and is independent and confident. She'll do great in 1st grade. I'm worried about her being gone all day. I miss them all when they're at school................Her team hasn't practiced much. They start next week.

Next week is Spring Break for us. Scott is taking a few days off and we might go to the Children's Museum or one of the Hall of Fame's.

I have gotten the results of the monitor I had to wear. It's what the dr thought-premature ventricular contractions or premature heart beats. I have a follow up here in a few weeks. I'm supposed to stay away from caffeine and chocolate. YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!! Maybe I can drink caffeine free Mt Dew but CHOCOLATE! Not that I eat it everyday but there are THOSE days when a piece IS NEEDED! Which I'm sure is fine. I laughed when I heard that.

Well, I went on my Walk to Emmaus 2 weekends ago. It was a wonderful, serene, emotional, positive weekend! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go and had a wonderful sponsor! There were so many emotional surprises, laughs, great food and tears. But I came away with so much more positive, moving feelings. I've been on a high since. The love that I felt from my fellow 'pilgrims', Emmaus Walk alumni that came from our church to support me (and my hubby came =) and people I don't know was incredible! One night I was reading Luke for the bible study I'm in and I found Maddy's dried, purple play doh in my bible! I needed a laugh that night! I'm not going into detail about all experiences because it would be a book by the time I'm done. It's been fun to compare notes with Scott & my dad. Scott didn't want to tell me the 'surprises' otherwise it would have ruined it.

So now I'm back in the swing of things-school, papers, practice, etc. I have the Twilight movie! I think I've watched it 3 times now and the bonus features. My neighbor Jenny who also is a fan, has the movie and the next rainy day, we plan to watch it-again! I can't get enough! How sad is that?

Anyway................well, I'm off to read and go to bed.

BUGZ

Here are pictures of Brent's debut on stage!! The 1st graders at his school put on the play Bugz. Brent was a firefly! I think I mentioned this in an earlier blog. The pic's turned out ok and he is SOOOOO adorable!! He did a great job on his speaking part!

He's in the front row with yellow around his waist.

The Manatees

Our Girl Scout troop went 3 other troops to the zoo to sleep with the Manatees. We went behind the scenes in the bird house and got to see what they feed the 800 birds they have. Anything from fruit, dog food and mice and baby mice. We went to the primate house and saw lemurs and fruit bats. The building was DARK except for our leaders flashlight. We were in the enclosed room where the bats are hanging over our heads. We can't really see them but we could feel the breeze from the flapping of their wings. YUCK YUCK! This wasn't the favorite with us girls! We then went behind the scenes to the Manatee exhibit and got to walk behind their tanks and look into the water. We saw how much lettuce, etc they eat during the day. I guess when your over 1000 lbs, you eat LOTS! They are on loan from Fla and being rehabilitated and then will return to Fla. Our leaders for the night brought out some animals to touch and not to =) A cattle bird heron ?, a corn snake and an 18 mo old alligator. He was quite cute! We had snack and found our place to sleep. Hayley got a spot right on the end/corner where the tank side meets a bubble window to see the manatees. It was a perfect spot!! There's nothing better than falling asleep watching Manatees swim, roll and play! It was hard to sleep-50 girls! The keepers turn on 'moon lights' at night. These shine in the tank and look just like moonlight. How peaceful and serene!! Hayley slept by her friend Alli and fell asleep faster than I thought she would. I watched her sleep and watched the Manatees. I woke up a few times and the last time it was 4:30 am and I couldn't sleep so I layed and enjoyed the quiet, peacefulness of the Manatees swimming. We woke at 7 am, had breakfast and we got to tour around the zoo and look at other animals! It was a fun experience to do this with Hayley-good quality girl time!!

The weekend is here!

Well thank goodness for another weekend!

It's been a busy week-church, gals night out, Hayley's ortho appts, baseball was canceled because it was too cold. It's warming up now tomorrow! 50-60's!!

Hayley had her palette spacer put in yesterday! It's a mouthful! She gets food caught in it and she clears her throat trying to force air up to clear it and it sounds like a hairball is coming up. We have to tighten every night for 14 days and go back for a checkup and do the same for another 14 days then go back in 6 wks. The ortho said she'll get a space between her front teeth. That should be interesting to watch. She talks like she has a mouthful too.

We caught up on our Idol last night. The kids love to watch it. GO DANNY!! We're all rooting for Danny Gokey!!

Our Bunco group has changed to GNO. We went to this ceramic place called The Mad Potter and we painted some ceramic pieces and they'll fire them and pick them up. It was pretty fun. Our girl scout troup is going on Monday. I want to bring Maddy & Brent too-they'd have fun.

We ate at our favorite-Cheeseburger in Paradise tonight and went and bought Brent new baseball cleats. He has practice again tomorrow.

Tomorrow night, our troop is staying over night at the zoo to sleep with the manatees! Should be fun and interesting. I'll need a strong drink..........the girls can get a little nutty. Hayley and a couple other girls are pretty calm and normal. The rest (the other 5) are full of it!

I'm going on my Walk to Emmaus next weekend. The thought of leaving everyone for 3 days is awful and I'm nervous about going. We aren't supposed to bring cell phones as we are to leave the outside world OUT. I don't know how to go that long and not see OR talk to my 4 sweeties (scott is 4 =) is rough to say the least. I'm sure it will be fine once I get there. How to live w/out my baby's for that long! I'm staying in the 'nunnery.' I am looking forward to it and I leave the house in great hands!

We're in the midst of trying to figure out Jake's condition of his legs. I brought him to the vet to have his blood tested so he can start a nonsteroidal medicine for arthritis. He's already on meds for that and i'm not sure if we've seen alot of improvement. The vet did a 'paw' check and he THINKS Jake has a degenerative disease-Myelopathy. It involves the spine and slowly the paws, legs and upward go numb. Some days he seems to get right up off the floor and other days he's dragging his butt just to sit up. So hopefully he'll show some improvement on his 2nd medication. His meds cost a small fortune........................if it's the 2nd condition, no meds will improve his legs/hips. So hopefully it is only arthritis.

Well, I'm off to read a magazine and RELAX! Have a great weekend!