Yearly check up

Hello everyone. It has been awhile since I've updated. Summer has come and gone. School has started... Ava is in 7th grade. Time has been flying by. Ava turned 13 on August 31st. I can't believe she is a teenager. I had so many mixed emotions on her birthday but she is doing amazingly well!

She had an orthopedic appointment on July 24th. Her curve is remaining stable. She is growing so tall. She's too tall for the doctor's table. She cracks me up! We laugh together as we wait for the doctor. She is taller than me and the doctor!

Her and I waiting for the doctor to come in... I love that she still wants me to be in the picture with her!

Ava had her yearly check up with GI and Pulmonary. (October 2) They both went great. Everyone is so shocked at how well she looks and they can't believe she is so tall. 5'7 and 112 pounds. Ava decided that she wanted to see if she really needed the daily medicines she is prescribed. I explained what they both did. Her Prevacid keeps the acid in her stomach down. The Symibort keeps her lungs strong and healthy. She has been doing good and not showing signs that she needs them. I think she is old enough to think about how she is feeling and judge if the medicine helps her or not. 

We also saw Ortho as her back brace is no longer fitting. We have had it adjusted many times. (They melt the plastic and bow it out as her body grows.) Her hips have took a huge growth spurt. We (doctors and us) mutually agreed that since her curve has been holding steady that she could go a few month without wearing it. She will get an x ray to check. The chances of her curve getting worse is pretty low and the cost of a brace is around $3,400. Our out of pocket is about $850.00. I think monitoring her is a good idea. Ava was so happy she was almost crying. I am relieved for her. It is very uncomfortable and painful. We will pray that her back remains stable.

Five foot 7 inches. Can you believe this girl?

She is never too old to write on the board.

Ava doing a Pulmonary lung function test.

A few Sundays ago I got a few of my high school dresses out and Ava and I tried them on. She thought it was funny that I can still fit into my Vise-Versa dance. Ava holding a photo of Brian and I.

Ava's sisters are doing well. They moved into their own apartment in February so now Ava feels like an only child. If she wasn't totally spoiled before she certainly is now!! Lexis turned 21 and Emeline turned 19 in September. How did time pass so quickly? She loves these two so much.

Ava is becoming quite a photographer. She took our pictures this Summer. I decided to give her a logo. She thought this was pretty cool. I'm just happy she enjoys doing what I love. I thought this was a good opportunity to get Brian on the blog.

Today Ava cut her finger on a bottle after school. She had her friends over so she was pretty chill about it. I wasn't sure if it needed stitches or not so we went to urgent care. They cleaned it and bandaged it for her. They felt it would heal on it's own. There is never a dull moment with Ava.I am thankful it wasn't worse. 

Thanks for stopping by to check on Ava. We appreciate your thoughts, well wishes and prayers. 

-Terri

Cold

Good day friends. Ava picked up a bad cold, and we've been tackling it ever since. She started coughing Sunday, and it grew worse so Monday night we started her asthma regimen. (Steroids, Atrovent inhaler, and Albuterol treatments) I kept her home from school on Tuesday, but she loves school so much she went back on Wednesday. It was late start due to weather, and we decided I would pick her up for lunch to check on her and get her medicines. Her cough got worse, so I made her stay home Thursday.

I called the Pulmonary clinic in Iowa City yesterday and asked if we could do antibiotics. (That has been her plan forever. We try the regimen, and in 5-6 days she's not better we do medicines.) It had not been five days, but I worry with the weekend coming. They asked if we would take her to our local hospital for a chest x-ray. We headed out there around 5:00 with the go-ahead of the hospital. It's always a strange experience when we run into medical people that have never seem CDH (congenital diaphragmatic hernia, her birth defect) The x-ray techition asked a lot of questions. Ava and I are pros so they don't need to go through the process of explaining it all but we are patient and just listen. He thought she was 14 so was shocked to find out she was only 12. He was in awe of all his medical training she could even breathe with half a diaphragm. He said, "It takes so many muscles just to take a breath." Yes, she is a miracle!

The doctor finally called at 9:30 last night to tell us her x-ray looked good. He wanted her to try nasal saline spray. (Okay.) So we did. I will give him am update today. I'd like antibiotics on standby in case she needs them.

We do pray for her left side as you can see. It looks odd. There is no sign of diaphragm there. Scar tissue id likely holding things down. We trust her to let us know if she doesn't feel well and we already have plans if she reherniates.

This morning she seems a little better. I made her get up and take her medicines. She's on the couch now. I will get her homework so she won't get behind. Here she is this morning.

We would love some extra prayers. Thanks for dropping by.

Thanks?
Terri and Ava

Back Pain- Scoliosis related.

Hello Everyone. Ava is doing well. I'm so proud of her continuing to make the honor roll — what a huge accomplishment. How many people can say they get ALL "A's"?

She has been having some back pain on and off with too much activity, so today we went to her Orthopedic doctor — Dr. Weinstein in Iowa City. Our weather was has been bad here. We have a lot of snow and yesterday we got rain. Then it snowed another few inches. (Ten to twelve inched of snow.) The roads were terrible. Brian drove and powered through. He drives this half this route everyday for work. The entire highway disappeared most of the two your drive. I closed my eyes and prayed and prayed that God would get us there safely- and he did!

Good news her curve is stable, holding at 26 as it was 6 months ago. We were so relieved. He thinks she is having muscle pain due to scoliosis. She's going to ice it 3 times a day and take Aleve for 10 days.

Here were a few pictures of today. She had to do a full bone scan and a hand scan.

She weighed 100 pounds finally!! Her height stayed the same 5'6.

Her x-ray today.

Her left diaphragm looks stable as well. It differs from her last scan but it looks better. We keep a close eye on that left side wall. Scar tissue in many doctors opinions, is all that is holding it together.

Whenever we go to the hospital, it brings so many memories back to the surface. We are so blessed to have her healthy today. There were so many times that she was so sick and fragile. She's getting so tall and so grown up. She has such a sweetheart and tender spirit. God has taken her so far. She's our Miracle!

Thanks for taking the time to drop by and check on Ava. So many of you have been instrumental in praying for her health and her life. Brian and I appreciate it very much.

-Terri Helmick