Admitted

Well Ava got quite the fever this afternoon. Shortly after Lisa the nurse came to draw her blood the chills came back and the vomitting. I took her temperature at it was 102.1. So I called Iowa City and they told us to come right up. I picked her up and she was very limp and heavy. Her heart rate was 226. I was scared. She looked deathly ill. I called my mom because I knew I couldn't take her the long drive myself. Brian was waiting at work I was going to pick him up on the way. I started getting panicky and decided she might be too sick to make the drive. I called her regular doctor here in town and she wasn't on call. I knew then we must make the drive.

So we were admitted and they are running more tests. HOWEVER the good news is her fever has broke and besides her being pail she looks good. Here is a few pictures. Thank goodness I have my laptop now. As you can see her eyes are still very dark. They drew her blod from her arm to compare it with her central line. She did good but she still cried. It hurts. :(



Please pray for Ava.

~Terri

Temperature going back up.

So here we are again. Since she got out of bed she has acted not quite herself. Her temperature keeps going up then down. It has been as high as 100.9 this morning. At 10:15 it was 99.8 so it is back down. I called Iowa City and they want to wait until her temp gets 101.5 then to take her up there. Well you know me I can't wait. I called our local doctor. (She is our fav and understands my needs oh and Ava's too! ;) So she agrees with me that a blood test can't hurt. She wants to run a CBC, a blood culture and one more test but forgot wihich one. It takes a CBC test 2 days so I'm thinking the sooner the better. My feelings have always been "better safe than sorry" expecially when talking about her central line. I just could be more worried. I try to remain calm it is getting harder.

Good news is she is now up and moving around. She is very thirsty. I just called Grandma Karen and she is going to bring some Pedilyte over. I will put it at a slow rate through her tube. We don't need her to get dehydrated.

She just got on her horsie. I'm hoping it is just a bug and NOT a line infection. Funny thing is she is a kid and kids get sick and have fevers. Chills now they scare me. I don't think Lex or Emme has ever had them. I've only had them a few times in my life.

I just got a smile out of her so perhaps I'm worried for nothing. Having a central line is a ticking time bomb in my eyes. I can't wait until it is gone. Yesterday was such a good day. She tolerated 893.5 ml's through her g-tube. We are almost there! Now this....

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I guess we are in this together! Here is how she looks right now.



At least she feels like getting up. So I will keep an eye on how she does....as I always do!

~Terri

A bit better.

So I took her temp about 20 minutes and it was 100.4! I was getting a little nervous. She is acting good though. She doesn't know that it is one in the morning! We are watching Teletubbies. I started her tpn back up with no problems. Her heart rate is still higher than normal but it is going down. She's at 140-150 now. I just took her temp and it is 99.6. It is going down. Prayers are working.

I was just thinking today how thankful I am that we are NOT in the hospital....

Strange thing is she is still thirsty. Huh what's up with that? I stopped the drain on her g-tube so things stay in her tummy.

Oh Ava always keeps us on our toes. Thanks for the prayers!

~Terri

Oh no.

Ava just woke with the chills and she is very nauseous. Her heart rate is very high. I'm not sure what is going on with her. Oh how I hate this. She is very thirsty too.

I hooked up her TPN tonight and the bag was still cold. I've started it about after sitting out 45 minutes before....not sure what this is. Her oxygen levels are okay. Her heart rate is still in the 170-180's. Her temp is 99.3. I just gave her a Tylenol suppository and she has calmed down a lot, Oh and I stopped her TPN just in case. I also stopped her feeds and put it to drain. She's trying to throw up but can't and boy is her stomach making gurgling sounds. Will it ever stop? If her temperature goes up I'll call her doctor.

Please say an urgent prayer for her. I'll update when I can.

~Terri

Playing at the park!

Hey All! We have just been living the boring family life!! Ava has been doing good. Last night it was nice out so we took the girls to the park. This was the FIRST time Ava got to play with the girls at the park. She slid down the slides and swan on the swings. ALL while totally covered....hands too! (You know crazy Mom and her germ phobia.) She was smiles the entire time. It was so GOOD to be a family doing a normal event like going to the park. We were not there for long as it was getting colder by the minute.

My camera class went great. It was soooo wonderful to get away and do my own thing. To find me again. Brian did great with her. He had everything done when I got home.....and she was tucked nicely in her bed. I found out I needed a different camera so this week Brian surprised me by getting it. How nice is that? So I did my homework at the park. I was to set the camera on manual settings and adjust them all on my own. These first ones are Lexis and Emeline on Burlington's oldest slide. Ava just watched with huge eyes.












This was when I let Ava play! Notice we are the only ones at the park? There is a reason! ;)





















The doctors made a switch with her medicines that I'm a little nervous about.....she was on IV Protonix which is the strongest acid blocker there is.....then they want her on Ranitidine by the g-tube. I'm a little sceptical. Lets hope all goes well. I hate to toy with medicines. Why change something that isn't broken. I do know the goal is to get her off the IV meds and the Protonix was the last.

She is still throwing up 1-3 times a day. I hate this so much. I've gotten her a little higher on her g-tube feeds at night. We were up to 30 ml's an hour but a few times I've had to turn it down due to her throwing up.....her stomach gets too full.

She is so happy. It is so nice to see her smile and for it to be real.

~Terri