Keala and Grammy Sue came to visit today... What a whirlwind!! :) Keala wouldn't let mommy put her down for the first 15 minutes they were here and then crawled right into bed with Allison and snuggled and kissed and patted her and talked to her. Later, when mommy took her out of the room for a bit to play with her in the play room, 2 or 3 times, right in the middle of a sentence, Keala would stop and say "yaya (thats what she calls herself) "yaya sissy!" and take off running down the hall back to Allisons room. She also noticed a couple other babies on the hall and wanted to go take care of them and snuggle them too. She's just sooo adorable! Amy really enjoyed seeing Sue also. What a nice treat. They were able to spend a couple hours and have dinner with Amy and then took off for home. Sue said Keala struggled a little bit with the leaving part and talked about mommy and sissy all the way home.
Allison is still having some struggles today. She had an xray yesterday that showed she has a a lot of poo to get rid of and is having a lot of troubles doing it. Feeds have been backed off again and Miralax introduced to try and get things movin. It's causing her quite a bit of discomfort. Dr Harrison seems to think that he wants to send her home before the weekend, but as it stands right now, Allison is still on IV fluids and IV meds and is still not getting full feeds and being suctioned on a very regular basis. All of that combined with the constipation says to us, NO WAY ! At the earliest, we're thinking sometime next week, and thats only if we get authorization from the insurance company for some nursing assistance at home. Thank you for all the calls and emails and Facebook posts. We have really appreciated them.
Thank you Lord for all our friends (old, new and newly re-aquainted)
Thank you for continued strength and perserverence.
Thank you for continued health (Amy, Jeff and Keala) and continued progress for Allison.
Thank you for all of your angels at Church on the Hill, without them we would be sinking fast.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Tough Day
Two teeth short and one G tube button added, lots of crying and lots of medications...that's how our day went. Oh yeah, and she was on food restriction for her sedation this afternoon while I had a hard time keeping food down.
Tonight the plan is to keep her comfortable. I'm guessing there is pain from needing to have a BM, having two teeth pulled, shoving in the Gtube, and just all around discomfort from all of the gagging and wretching.
Little Sissy and the best Grammy Sue in world are coming tomorrow and Auntie Hannah. Need that like nothing else. Would give up eating tomorrow to get them. One person missing though...Daddy.
Everyone's calls and emails are so nice. If you don't hve the number it is 503-418-5110. It can get busy in here but there can also be horrible periods of nothingness.
Right now I say a prayer for relief for Allison...she is crying so much...I would like the hand of healing and pain relief to come over her. I also say a prayer for all the wonderful friends in Christ we have. To all of you who have blessed us, THANK YOU. Thank God.
Amy
Tonight the plan is to keep her comfortable. I'm guessing there is pain from needing to have a BM, having two teeth pulled, shoving in the Gtube, and just all around discomfort from all of the gagging and wretching.
Little Sissy and the best Grammy Sue in world are coming tomorrow and Auntie Hannah. Need that like nothing else. Would give up eating tomorrow to get them. One person missing though...Daddy.
Everyone's calls and emails are so nice. If you don't hve the number it is 503-418-5110. It can get busy in here but there can also be horrible periods of nothingness.
Right now I say a prayer for relief for Allison...she is crying so much...I would like the hand of healing and pain relief to come over her. I also say a prayer for all the wonderful friends in Christ we have. To all of you who have blessed us, THANK YOU. Thank God.
Amy
Monday, January 5, 2009
Movin up & Stayin the same
So they booted us out of the ICU today:) Good for them we weren't still there when I found out they put too small of a temporary tube in the G-tube site last night. What I mean is the temporary tube came out, so they replaced it with something else until the surgeons could aprove the permanent one being put back in. When they were discussing what to do they looked at me and clearly asked me what size she normally has and I firmly and assuredly anwered their question and they promptly out something in that was 2 sizes too small!! So, when the nurse attempted to place the permanent tube and it so apparently would not go in you can be sure I was not happy.
The result: Sedation in order to dilate the site to make it large enough to replace the permanent tube in hole that was large enough only hours ago thanks to...let me see...wax in someone's ears. Sedation always has risks, I can't go with her to hold her hand, and there will be residual pain in which she will need more ...which we are trying to get off of. BLAH BLAH BLAH.
The up side is she is getting some food and between suctionings she is talking and smiling. She went for a lap in her chair last night and got held by mom today.
The down side is there is no talk of time frame of release. The secretions and suctionings are relentless and I am TIRED. The smiles are keeping me smiling though.
Amy
The result: Sedation in order to dilate the site to make it large enough to replace the permanent tube in hole that was large enough only hours ago thanks to...let me see...wax in someone's ears. Sedation always has risks, I can't go with her to hold her hand, and there will be residual pain in which she will need more ...which we are trying to get off of. BLAH BLAH BLAH.
The up side is she is getting some food and between suctionings she is talking and smiling. She went for a lap in her chair last night and got held by mom today.
The down side is there is no talk of time frame of release. The secretions and suctionings are relentless and I am TIRED. The smiles are keeping me smiling though.
Amy
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Improving !
Amy has been with Allison at the hospital for the past couple days and without computer access in the PICU. She has been working really closely with the docs and nurses there keeping Allison on the right path. She has been resting relatively comfortably and was even making happy noises at Amy last night. The docs decided (after consulting with Amy) to start feeding Allison yesterday and so far there haven't been any negative reactions to that. We will continue to monitor her very closely over the next day or so and start escalating the amount she's getting. After that, we will start making decisions as to when to wean her off the IV fluids and IV pain meds and transition her to meds via g-tube. She has started coughing a lot more, which is good and bad. She's coughing and clearing the junk from her windpipe which is good, but in the process she's risking inhaling the fluids back into her lungs (very bad) and also the more she coughs, the more pain she's in due to the fact that her surgery site is very close to her diaphragm. If all continues as it has been, we will most likely be moved out of the PICU and up to the PACU on the 10th floor. Not sure when that will happen, but it's the next logical step.
Keala has been acting a little under the weather today and spiked a fever earlier this afternoon. We're gonna keep a real close eye on her the next day or so, hoping she doesn't get really sick too. Jeff is off Sunday which is pretty convenient, especially if Keala ends up getting sick. If she doesn't get sick, hopefully we'll be able to get Amy a break Sunday afternoon and let her come home for awhile. Jeff starts swing shift Monday and wont really be able to get back up to the hospital to get Amy a break until Friday night.
Keala has been acting a little under the weather today and spiked a fever earlier this afternoon. We're gonna keep a real close eye on her the next day or so, hoping she doesn't get really sick too. Jeff is off Sunday which is pretty convenient, especially if Keala ends up getting sick. If she doesn't get sick, hopefully we'll be able to get Amy a break Sunday afternoon and let her come home for awhile. Jeff starts swing shift Monday and wont really be able to get back up to the hospital to get Amy a break until Friday night.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Rough night,Restful morning
Allison has been resting comfortably now for about 2 hours. We had a very unrestful night. She never seemed to be in very much pain, just really uncomfortable. Good news to begin the day, they are planning to take her off of the morphine that has been causing her to itch like mad. They are also going to start some fluids thru her gtube to get her tummy working again after over a week of nothing but meds and IV fluids.
Keala is really missing her sister and asks about her constantly. Every time she wakes up (from overnight or just nap time) it's "sissy still by-bye?" And throughout the day it's "wheres sissy?" . She talks to her on the phone every time we call. She got to come visit her in the ICU yesterday, albeit very, very briefly. She climbed right into the bed and snuggled and kissed her. In hindsight, it was easier to deal with Allisons surgeries and hospital stays when it was just the 3 of us. It's really us to have to keep our family splintered in 3-4 different places at a time. Anyway, good news today. We hope that positivity continues.
Keala is really missing her sister and asks about her constantly. Every time she wakes up (from overnight or just nap time) it's "sissy still by-bye?" And throughout the day it's "wheres sissy?" . She talks to her on the phone every time we call. She got to come visit her in the ICU yesterday, albeit very, very briefly. She climbed right into the bed and snuggled and kissed her. In hindsight, it was easier to deal with Allisons surgeries and hospital stays when it was just the 3 of us. It's really us to have to keep our family splintered in 3-4 different places at a time. Anyway, good news today. We hope that positivity continues.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Back in the ICU
Here's a brief catch up on whats brought us to Doernbecher once again. Allison started having some difficulties a couple weeks ago and we were back and forth to the doctor trying to figure out what was causing the problem. She was bleeding from somewhere in her tummy again so they did a coupple xrays in the ER the week before Christmas and found another hernia in her upper bowel/diaphragm area. Same place as last year. Due to the snowstorm and the Holiday they really didnt have the staff at the hospital to take care of the problem right then and there. They originally sent us home and scheduled surgery for the 8th of Jan. Allison started to not tolerate feedings without extreme pain, so we started her on a calorie infusion IV at Mac Hospital and they transferred us up to Doernbecher on the 29th. Doernbecher was able to reschedule surgery for the 30th. And to make an even longer story short, here we are.
Allison's surgery has caused swelling in the Nissen site again and that is not allowing her saliva or any other secretions to enter her stomac. That causes them to back up into her esophogus and she risks coughing them up and inhaling them. So they put her back in the ICU to be watched continuously and suctioned every 15-30 minutes. She was also on moisturized oxygen that was supposedly helping her breathe easier. The problem was that she was fighting the nasal canula and the mask that was feeding it to her. We ended up taking the mask off for about 15-20 minutes and she was breathing easier without it on. So they have discontinued the oxygen for now and will conitinue to watch that. Amy has gone home for the night with Keala and will come back up tomorrow afternoon and Jeff will go home and nap for a couple hours and then go to work.
Please feel free to call or come visit, We'll be in ICU for another day or 2, then they will re open the 10th floor acute care wing and we'll most likely head there next. The phone number in the room (for now) is 503-346-0114. We arew in rm 14 on the 8th floor pediatric ICU.
Allison's surgery has caused swelling in the Nissen site again and that is not allowing her saliva or any other secretions to enter her stomac. That causes them to back up into her esophogus and she risks coughing them up and inhaling them. So they put her back in the ICU to be watched continuously and suctioned every 15-30 minutes. She was also on moisturized oxygen that was supposedly helping her breathe easier. The problem was that she was fighting the nasal canula and the mask that was feeding it to her. We ended up taking the mask off for about 15-20 minutes and she was breathing easier without it on. So they have discontinued the oxygen for now and will conitinue to watch that. Amy has gone home for the night with Keala and will come back up tomorrow afternoon and Jeff will go home and nap for a couple hours and then go to work.
Please feel free to call or come visit, We'll be in ICU for another day or 2, then they will re open the 10th floor acute care wing and we'll most likely head there next. The phone number in the room (for now) is 503-346-0114. We arew in rm 14 on the 8th floor pediatric ICU.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Surgery Again!
5pm...resting...drugged...sewn up. Nasty hernia. Colon had to be pulled out of her chest. Hopefully a week stay in the hospital we would not be shocked at more. Always glad to have phone calls and visitors to break up the monotony. Going to the hospital is not like changing our underpants, it actually totally disrupts our lives. Keala hugs the phone at night when talking to her sissy and I cry watching it.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Summer 08
It's the end of July already ! ? ! ? Really ? WOW ! It still amazes me how time can get away from you. For those of you still checking this on a regualr basis, I'm so sorry for not keepin things fresh and updated. But here we go.
Allison keeps growing and growing. She has had a few studies done so far this summer, including a swallow study to see if she will be able to handle some food by mouth. She passed that one with flying colors so we're starting to ramp up that process again. Tastes of different things a couple times a day, working up to a goal of being able to chew and swallow. She also had an overnight sleep lab study done last week to see if we can narrow down whats causing her to wake up in the middle if the night. It would appear from preliminary results that it's seizure activity waking her up. :{ There was also a concern that she might be suffering from sleep apnea, but the tech said she didnt ever stop breathing, so thats a good sign. We have to wait a week or 2 for the official results from the Dr's. Registration for preschool is in a couple weeks, and she'll get a 3rd full year of preschool before she goes to kindergarten in '09. Because she will turn 5 after school starts in September (can you believe it? 5 yrs old!) she still is qualified for preschool rather than kindergarten.
Keala is already almost 16 months old (again... can you believe it?) and makes our heads spin. She is a constant whirlwind of activity. Nonstop, on the go, all the time. Her body and mind dont comprehend slow. Everything she does is at a full sprint. She tries our patience, yet makes our hearts and souls sing with joy. She is absolutely amazing.
Amy had a brief scare last week. She has been running and swimming and has lost almost 50 lbs since before Keala (!!!!!! 50 lbs !!!!!!) so she decided to try and get back on the basketball court. After about 20 min she felt her knee pop. We thought for sure she had torn her ACL. Turns out it was a sprain and she's improving steadily. Thank you Lord for allowing us to avoid surgery and recovery!
Jeff is in the testing process to be a Police Officer in McMinnville. There are 2 openings available and I am confident this time around that I will be one of the 2 they hire. It will mean 16 weeks of Police Academy away from home, but the short term sacrifice will reap great rewards in the long term.
We pray for all our friends and family, that you all experience continued health and happiness. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for our family.
Allison keeps growing and growing. She has had a few studies done so far this summer, including a swallow study to see if she will be able to handle some food by mouth. She passed that one with flying colors so we're starting to ramp up that process again. Tastes of different things a couple times a day, working up to a goal of being able to chew and swallow. She also had an overnight sleep lab study done last week to see if we can narrow down whats causing her to wake up in the middle if the night. It would appear from preliminary results that it's seizure activity waking her up. :{ There was also a concern that she might be suffering from sleep apnea, but the tech said she didnt ever stop breathing, so thats a good sign. We have to wait a week or 2 for the official results from the Dr's. Registration for preschool is in a couple weeks, and she'll get a 3rd full year of preschool before she goes to kindergarten in '09. Because she will turn 5 after school starts in September (can you believe it? 5 yrs old!) she still is qualified for preschool rather than kindergarten.
Keala is already almost 16 months old (again... can you believe it?) and makes our heads spin. She is a constant whirlwind of activity. Nonstop, on the go, all the time. Her body and mind dont comprehend slow. Everything she does is at a full sprint. She tries our patience, yet makes our hearts and souls sing with joy. She is absolutely amazing.
Amy had a brief scare last week. She has been running and swimming and has lost almost 50 lbs since before Keala (!!!!!! 50 lbs !!!!!!) so she decided to try and get back on the basketball court. After about 20 min she felt her knee pop. We thought for sure she had torn her ACL. Turns out it was a sprain and she's improving steadily. Thank you Lord for allowing us to avoid surgery and recovery!
Jeff is in the testing process to be a Police Officer in McMinnville. There are 2 openings available and I am confident this time around that I will be one of the 2 they hire. It will mean 16 weeks of Police Academy away from home, but the short term sacrifice will reap great rewards in the long term.
We pray for all our friends and family, that you all experience continued health and happiness. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for our family.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Almost a new month already
Well, here it is the end of April. Wow time flies doesn't it? Life for the Yates fam just keeps on tickin. Allison is doing really, really well and is really starting to enjoy her little sister. Over the last couple weeks she has become more involved with playtime and Keala is starting to initiate interaction with her. Which is a great sign for whats destined to come in the future. Allison has been joining in the peek a boo sessions by pushing the blanket away from her own face and grinning at Mom and sister, and Keala has also been handing toys to her so she can have a turn! It's just amazing to see the growth potential in both of them. Allison also really enjoys the times during the day and at bedtime when Keala is asleep and Allison gets alone time with Mom or Dad without little sister butting in. We have a couple of upcoming Dr's appointments for Allison but they are strictly follow ups and not anything pressing. We are getting glasses for her though (as soon as we can get down to the optometrist and pick out the frames that will work best for her.) The doc thinks that by giving her eyes some correction, it will allow them to relax a little and be able to focus both eyes at the same time rather that one at a time.
Keala decided last Sunday that she wanted to walk. All the time. Everywhere. Not just a few steps here and there. She looks like an adorable little drunken mime in a box. It's sooooo cute! She's still falling quite a bit, but doesn't seem fazed by it a bit. Boy are we in trouble now! : }
See is also really close to actually talking. She has had a few words for awhile, but is at that point now where she is actually putting together phrases (that dont sound like anything that makes sense to us, but are definitely phrases and sentences.)
Jeff is slowly (but surely) getting back into shape. After spending the last 7 years sitting at a desk all day (or night), he's back in the gym working out 5-6 days a week and has lost 15 lbs already since the first week of April. He has a really good motivation at the moment, he is in the hiring process to become a McMinnville Police Officer. He has made it thru the first 2 phases, his application qualified and he passed the written test (with flying colors). There are 4 phases left, oral board interview, ORPAT (Officer and Reserve Physical Agility Test or something similar to that), background investigation and a psych evalutaion. The first 2 are up to him to make sure he passes, the final 2 leave up to other people to decide if he's the right candidate for the position. The tentative hire date is July 1st. So we'll keep you posted.
Amy is doing well, still getting used to Jeff being on Swingshift and not getting home and into bed until 1 am or so. She's feeling better and is also starting to do some more exercising. She is going to be getting some much needed respite a couple days a week thru the end if June. The county found us some grant money to pay for a respite care provider 10 hours a week to give Amy a chance to get some time for herself. What an amazing blessing.
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. Please feel free to call and check in with us
whenever you may get a chance to. We would love to hear how things are going with you too.
Keala decided last Sunday that she wanted to walk. All the time. Everywhere. Not just a few steps here and there. She looks like an adorable little drunken mime in a box. It's sooooo cute! She's still falling quite a bit, but doesn't seem fazed by it a bit. Boy are we in trouble now! : }
See is also really close to actually talking. She has had a few words for awhile, but is at that point now where she is actually putting together phrases (that dont sound like anything that makes sense to us, but are definitely phrases and sentences.)
Jeff is slowly (but surely) getting back into shape. After spending the last 7 years sitting at a desk all day (or night), he's back in the gym working out 5-6 days a week and has lost 15 lbs already since the first week of April. He has a really good motivation at the moment, he is in the hiring process to become a McMinnville Police Officer. He has made it thru the first 2 phases, his application qualified and he passed the written test (with flying colors). There are 4 phases left, oral board interview, ORPAT (Officer and Reserve Physical Agility Test or something similar to that), background investigation and a psych evalutaion. The first 2 are up to him to make sure he passes, the final 2 leave up to other people to decide if he's the right candidate for the position. The tentative hire date is July 1st. So we'll keep you posted.
Amy is doing well, still getting used to Jeff being on Swingshift and not getting home and into bed until 1 am or so. She's feeling better and is also starting to do some more exercising. She is going to be getting some much needed respite a couple days a week thru the end if June. The county found us some grant money to pay for a respite care provider 10 hours a week to give Amy a chance to get some time for herself. What an amazing blessing.
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. Please feel free to call and check in with us
whenever you may get a chance to. We would love to hear how things are going with you too.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Happy April
Well here it is April already, can you believe it? We're excited to see it finally arrive! Allison continues to feel great and gets really excited every day when it's time to go to school. She brought home a paper clown face yesterday that was sooo cute. She helped glue the eyes and nose and mouth on it. Really adorable. She is still growing and is already approaching the 4 foot tall mark !!! Can you believe it? She's not even 5 yet and she's already 3'9! Theres some cute pictures of her and Keala on Jeff's MySpace page. (thats right... Jeff's got a MySpace page). The link is http://www.myspace.com/bigjeff911
Amy is doing much better recently after a couple visits to the Dr. Their recommendation.... more sleep, an adjustment to her pacemaker and try to take some more time for herself. She will get more of that as soon as Jeff goes to swing shift (Next Tuesday!!!). Hopefully we will both be able to start working out at the gym or at the pool a little more often. We always feel a whole lot better after a workout. Now that the weather is FINALLY changing for the better, Jeff will also be able to start riding his bike back and forth to work, that will help him get into a little better shape too.
Thanks for continuing to check up on us. Hopefully we'll continue to post good news !!!
Amy is doing much better recently after a couple visits to the Dr. Their recommendation.... more sleep, an adjustment to her pacemaker and try to take some more time for herself. She will get more of that as soon as Jeff goes to swing shift (Next Tuesday!!!). Hopefully we will both be able to start working out at the gym or at the pool a little more often. We always feel a whole lot better after a workout. Now that the weather is FINALLY changing for the better, Jeff will also be able to start riding his bike back and forth to work, that will help him get into a little better shape too.
Thanks for continuing to check up on us. Hopefully we'll continue to post good news !!!
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