Busy busy busy...

I have probably started this over about 5 times now. Trying to find the most important place to begin.

Things are calm. I like calm. Calm seems to like me at the moment (I may have broken my knuckle knocking hard on wood right now). Chaos likes me too but I am not a huge fan of him (yes it's a him in my book).

Michelle is doing wonderful. I guess I haven't really elaborated too much as to what happened from April into May other then she had a non functioning shunt. Most of you know that she has 3, that makes things complicated for her.. Very complicated..

Of course it was a day I was concerned and had a nagging feeling in my stomach that I should have kept her home. Thankfully her teacher is amazing and lets me text her throughout the day and responds during her break times to update me about Michelle. I had sent her a text during her break time that she never responded to and not 5 minutes later I got a phone call, Michelle was as white as a sheet and wasn't very responsive. She started to come around so I left her be. Diagnosis, she had a seizure. I hopped into the shower since that feeling wasn't going away and not 30 seconds after I stepped out the phone rang again, she had another seizure and her o2 levels weren't coming up very quickly. Off we went. Thankfully Shawn's work is really close to the school (no joke I could throw a rock and proably hit parts of the area he works in) and he met me there to hang with the little kids in the car.

Long story short Michelle got a ride in an ambulance for the second time this year to the emergency room. We weren't in the ER for more then a couple hours waiting for all the results when Neurosurgery came waltzing in. Now when they show up and you haven't even been told the final results you know things aren't 100%. And sure enough just as I had suspected and the resident had suspected a few days prior to this day her shunt had finally malfunctioned 100% and her fluid levels were increased so off to surgery she went.

She woke up perfect. Smiling, laughing, talking, playing, eating, drinking. Everything she needed to be doing. We were told we could go home the next day so long as things looked good. The next afternoon Michelle started slurring her words and acting out of sorts so our discharge was canceled for the day. Neurology thought she could have been overdosing on an epilepsy med so we were to stop using as much. We went home.

Michelle was home less then 12 hours before I walked into her room expecting just to unhook a feeding and finding a very lethargic, vomiting, feverish little girl. The first thing that flashed in my head was OH MY GOD HER SHUNT IS INFECTED! I rushed her back to the ER and we didn't leave for 2 weeks. Michelle had a TON of seizures. It took over 24 hours before her fever would respond to meds, she had an EEG, catscan, x-rays, labs and more labs and nothing was found. Nothing. No one had an answer. Things were said and then plans were changed making it all the more frustrating. Tempers flared (more mine then anyone else's). Finally we got the Neurosurgeon on call to see the light that maybe, just maybe Michelle's brain wasn't tolerating the fixed setting of the shunt on the faster flow anymore. He agreed to replace it with a programmable one and move the setting to slower flow. Voila! Michelle could sit up, eat, drink, talk, play, move without going ghost white and passing out and only needed pain meds about every 12 hours versus every 4 like before the surgery and we went home the next day!

I have to say that if it hadn't been for a nurse practitioner who went out of her way to complain and possibly get herself written up for it I think it would have taken us a few more days before we got Michelle the relief that she deserved. Don't get me wrong the surgeon who performed the surgery is 100% capable, it's just that he lacks what Michelle's regular neurosurgeon has going for him with us, knowledge of Michelle.

During this whole entire mess of complicatedness Shawn was back and forth almost everyday, the other kids were home with family, my mom had flown in from AZ and I stayed with her the whole time only leaving a couple of times to run some quick errands.

I am so thankful for the support we receive. It makes things a lot easier to focus our attention to where it needs to be. Im thankful for quick thinking teachers and aides who know when to call. I am thankful for rapid response times with the EMS here on base and that they listen when I tell them what to do and what not to do. I am thankful for wonderful nurses and doctors at the hospital who always put the patient before themselves.

I am so proud of my kids. Each and every one of them. They take everything in stride. Like this is just what life is like. Hunter and Abigail haven't really had to deal too much into the Michelle being in the hospital scene so it is a little bit harder for them but they still did amazing!

Everyone is now enjoying summer break driving me crazy just like they should be. Michelle starts summer school on Monday and the boys swim camp as well. It will just be me, Abigail and Hunter for the whole week! I guess I better find something for us to do!