12.11.2010
11.27.2010
Thanksgiving 2010
Since I moved to Texas the week after I got married (which will be 20 years in June) we have spent most holidays on the road between Minnesota and central Texas. We don't usually spend Thanksgiving in MN as we don't have much time off from school and I need about 2 weeks, or at least 10 days, to make the drive there and back..recovering in between. Every other year is spent at Mark's moms and so we either get invited to a friends' home or drive to Tulsa to spend a few days with Mark's sister. The last two years have been crazy...my mom was diagnosed in Nov of 08 so we jumped in the car to spend Thanksgiving in MN that year...last year she passed away in Nov and we got home just in time to head to Central TX for Thanksgiving at Mark's moms. This year Mark and I decided to stay home and attempt our own Thanksgiving feast. One of my favorite memories growing up was the preperation that went into the holidays. I made a late breakfast of Monkey Bread and bacon. I SO enjoyed getting ready for this day and it was so relaxing to just hang out at home. Food, football and friends....aahhh, it was heavenly...
Jordan's oldest friend Jake and Jake's grandma
Jake's parents, Dan & Renee
PRE-K FOUR THANKSGIVING FEAST
Hudson had his first school program last week at school...he has a great teacher and they did several songs and prepared a feast...
Hope all of you had a BLESSED Thanksgiving!!!!!
Dances and parties...
I so wish I had the time to blog daily like I used to...it is amazing to me that the older my kids get the busier life is....even though they become more independent they seem to need you more.
Madalyn attended her first highschool dance a week ago. It was a Sadie Hawkins dance and the theme was 80's so this '86 grade had no trouble with helping her and her friends get ready. We had a fun day shopping and primping and they looked adorable
This was at the "pre-dinner" party and almost Madi's entire class.
This was also Madalyn's first official "date". She and Logan have liked each other for about a year but we are pretty strict on what that looks like....he is a sweet kid and we certianly weren't ready for this "season" of life with her. He is very patient.....we are not the norm when it comes to "dating"....
The same night as Madalyn's dance Kailee had a party...it was just a birthday party but they were asked to dress up so in between the 80's shopping we had to do party dress shopping...
All the days of frilly dresses and bows are LONG gone and now they do their own hair...again, independent but still my baby girl!!
...and her favorite date is Hudson...
11.07.2010
Orphan Sunday
Many of the blogs I read have mentioned how their churches recognized "Orphan Sunday" today. I must say those churches ROCK and truly get what scripture tells us isn't an option as Christians but something that is expected. Way to go to those of you who are in these churches and who have advocated loud and long enough to get some "face" time. PURE and faultless religion!!!
11.03.2010
This and that
Two weeks out and we are back to normal. Really the middle of last week Hudson was back to his silly self, running, playing and asking "how many days?" until he can eat all foods. Still a few more days of the soft diet but now that we are not liquids he can eat a lot more. He is still snoring but not gasping for breaths like he was at first and most people who hear him talk say they can definetly tell a difference and can understand him better. For sure his hypernasality is gone. We will start speech in a couple weeks again and are hopeful he will really take off with his articulation and get those back stops down.
Since this is our family scrapbook I wanted to include some of Hudson's latest works. One of his first nights of really feeing good he spent about two hours working on letters and drawing. I was so impressed as I have never seen him do anything but scribble.
Since this is our family scrapbook I wanted to include some of Hudson's latest works. One of his first nights of really feeing good he spent about two hours working on letters and drawing. I was so impressed as I have never seen him do anything but scribble.
He has always called Jordan "Jo Jo" so this was mail for his brother.
Lastly, today is my sweet dad's birthday. It has been a tough year of "firsts" for all of us and although he is doing well I sure wish on days like today I lived closer to really love on him. Last week Hudson's school did their annual Care-A-Thon service projects and Hudson's class went to a nursing home to sing. When I asked him about it he said "they were REALLY old". I said "like Grandpa?" and he said "is he old?"....... my dad got a kick out of that!!!
LOVE YOU DAD!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
10.20.2010
Surgery update
I knew there was a reason to dread this surgery....it has been a tough 48 hours but I think we turned a corner this morning.
We went in Monday morning for surgery scheduled at 11:00 am. This was the first time Hudson got teary being wheeled away from us...that was heartbreaking but as he gets older and knows what is ahead of him it is expected. He was in surgery about an hour once they got started. The hospital has this cool board in the cafeteria and waiting room that is coded with your child's initials and it keeps families updated as to what stage they are at (scapel for surgery, stitches for stitching up and a bandaid for procedure complete). It also gives you the time of when they were wheeled in the OR and recovery. After four surgeries and having this for the first time we found this comforting. The surgeon came out and talked to us and told us we would be called back in about ten minutes. After about 30 minutes went by I started to have flashbacks to here...it was one of those times you just "know"...after another 20 minutes I asked about him and she called back. A few minutes later they came and got us and my feeling was right. He again struggled so hard, there was blood everywhere and two nurses were monitoring him. He had stabalized to the point they could let us back but it again was SO hard to see him struggling and having to watch them sunction him every few mnutes. We stayed in recovery for several hours while they debated again about sending us to the PICU. FINALLY, we were sent up to a regular room and were settled in about 5. Just to let you know, his struggle after both p-flap and palate surgery isn't really related to those surgeries...more so to his very small airway, the reason we were SO nervous about p-flap to begin with.
I had been warned by several p-flap is a harder recovery then palate repair (and he also had a lip revision and rhinoplasty done at the same time and his repair)...they were right. After his palate repair he slept peacefully all night and was playing the next day. Monday night was miserable. I don't think either of us slept more than 10-20 min at a time. He was on morphine and loritab and nothing seemed to dent the pain. Of course he couldn't breath well and didn't want to eat or drink. The most heart breaking part though was he would not let me comfort him. In all past surgeries he has wanted me to sleep with him in his bed but not this time. He would cry for me then push me away, tell me "stop it" when I touched him, but then cry for me. I think he was just so miserable and RX's may have been affecting him a bit. Finally at 5 am he asked me to hold him so I climbed into his bed and he snuggled in and said "i love you"......oh sweet boy. I know as parents we struggle with "am I doing the right thing"...even when we KNOW they need these surgeries and it was "part" of it but it sure is hard to feel good about it during those times. We were released and home by noon but the rest of the day and last night was still hard. He hasn't wanted to eat or drink although he is so hungry and the same with taking his pain meds. He was also still so out of it and told me last night "I just want to go home, I don't like the hospital"....even though we were snuggled up in the living room.
Thanks for those that have prayed for us....I know you do. We have such sweet friends here who have dropped off gifts, offered meals and are good about checking in on us. Always hard in times like this not to be close to family but the big kids are so good at taking care of themselves and each other now that I can really focus on Hudson.
We went in Monday morning for surgery scheduled at 11:00 am. This was the first time Hudson got teary being wheeled away from us...that was heartbreaking but as he gets older and knows what is ahead of him it is expected. He was in surgery about an hour once they got started. The hospital has this cool board in the cafeteria and waiting room that is coded with your child's initials and it keeps families updated as to what stage they are at (scapel for surgery, stitches for stitching up and a bandaid for procedure complete). It also gives you the time of when they were wheeled in the OR and recovery. After four surgeries and having this for the first time we found this comforting. The surgeon came out and talked to us and told us we would be called back in about ten minutes. After about 30 minutes went by I started to have flashbacks to here...it was one of those times you just "know"...after another 20 minutes I asked about him and she called back. A few minutes later they came and got us and my feeling was right. He again struggled so hard, there was blood everywhere and two nurses were monitoring him. He had stabalized to the point they could let us back but it again was SO hard to see him struggling and having to watch them sunction him every few mnutes. We stayed in recovery for several hours while they debated again about sending us to the PICU. FINALLY, we were sent up to a regular room and were settled in about 5. Just to let you know, his struggle after both p-flap and palate surgery isn't really related to those surgeries...more so to his very small airway, the reason we were SO nervous about p-flap to begin with.
I had been warned by several p-flap is a harder recovery then palate repair (and he also had a lip revision and rhinoplasty done at the same time and his repair)...they were right. After his palate repair he slept peacefully all night and was playing the next day. Monday night was miserable. I don't think either of us slept more than 10-20 min at a time. He was on morphine and loritab and nothing seemed to dent the pain. Of course he couldn't breath well and didn't want to eat or drink. The most heart breaking part though was he would not let me comfort him. In all past surgeries he has wanted me to sleep with him in his bed but not this time. He would cry for me then push me away, tell me "stop it" when I touched him, but then cry for me. I think he was just so miserable and RX's may have been affecting him a bit. Finally at 5 am he asked me to hold him so I climbed into his bed and he snuggled in and said "i love you"......oh sweet boy. I know as parents we struggle with "am I doing the right thing"...even when we KNOW they need these surgeries and it was "part" of it but it sure is hard to feel good about it during those times. We were released and home by noon but the rest of the day and last night was still hard. He hasn't wanted to eat or drink although he is so hungry and the same with taking his pain meds. He was also still so out of it and told me last night "I just want to go home, I don't like the hospital"....even though we were snuggled up in the living room.
(this is pretty much been the stance for the last two days if he hasn't been crying or sleeping, pitiful boy)
BUT...we see the light, he took his medicine through tears this morning but didn't fight and has been drinking on his own and even played a bit with dad. It will be a week of laying low but that is so fine by me...I am enjoying NOT being able to go anywhere.
Hudson's teacher sent me this yesterday...it almost got a smile out of him...
10.18.2010
Surgery #5
Today Hudson has the dreaded p-flap surgery. We have done all we can do in the way of testing and 2nd opinions to rule this one out but since his sleep study determined he had no sleep apnea due to obstruction (although he wakes up 69.9 times a night) and his scope determined he has NO movement of palate walls (which he needs) this is the best surgery to give him a chance at making the sounds he cannot make and take away his hypernasal speech. The biggest fear with this sugery is creating sleep apnea as the flap is made by actually creating an obstruction in the back of the throat (or soft palate). The uvula that hangs down in the back of our throats is there only for speech and kids with cleft palates obviously do not have this. They typically have shorter palates also and this is a way to lengthen that palate. There is debate over if this surgery is out of date as there are newer techniques but we know we have one of the top surgeons in the country and have been told by other surgeons that this is the best surgery for lack of speech like Hudson's. One of the risks of this surgery is the obstruction created leads to such severe apnea that it has to be "undone". That would be devastating as it creates scar tissue and good, flexible tissue is crucial to further surgeries and successful speech. We know Hudson has very small nasal passages and already has trouble getting good airflow through his nose. His tonsillectomy last winter was to make room for this very surgery as his tonsils were HUGE. His sleep and breathing has been much better since then so we are hoping this does not cause him to take a step backward in that area.
As with every surgery (and this is his 5th, his fourth here as he had one in China) we are nervous more so for the recovery. It is SO hard to see our kids in pain. He had such a hard time with his breathing coming out of surgery with his palate repair/rhinoplasty/lip revision but was in surgery quite a bit longer than today's surgery is predicted to be so we hope it won't be an issue this time. He is also a bit nervous for this surgery. He is old enough to know a little bit of what is going on and knows he will have pain so that adds a new element. We are confident knowing he has total trust in us now and we are who he looks to for comfort so that is reassuring.
Please pray for a SUCCESSFUL surgery. I have been told by others they heard differences in speech immediately so we are excited for the chance that this will give Hudson at "normal" speech. He can be understood pretty well but also has a huge chance for improvement. A quick recovery, minimal pain and NO apnea are also requests. They are taking a few more precautions with him as his epilepsy is sleep induced so his flap will not be quite as large as some in hopes of not contributing to any siezures. He may have to have some "revisions" to it as he grows but we are confident the Lord can give him clear speech with this one surgery.
As with every surgery (and this is his 5th, his fourth here as he had one in China) we are nervous more so for the recovery. It is SO hard to see our kids in pain. He had such a hard time with his breathing coming out of surgery with his palate repair/rhinoplasty/lip revision but was in surgery quite a bit longer than today's surgery is predicted to be so we hope it won't be an issue this time. He is also a bit nervous for this surgery. He is old enough to know a little bit of what is going on and knows he will have pain so that adds a new element. We are confident knowing he has total trust in us now and we are who he looks to for comfort so that is reassuring.
Please pray for a SUCCESSFUL surgery. I have been told by others they heard differences in speech immediately so we are excited for the chance that this will give Hudson at "normal" speech. He can be understood pretty well but also has a huge chance for improvement. A quick recovery, minimal pain and NO apnea are also requests. They are taking a few more precautions with him as his epilepsy is sleep induced so his flap will not be quite as large as some in hopes of not contributing to any siezures. He may have to have some "revisions" to it as he grows but we are confident the Lord can give him clear speech with this one surgery.
We did reach a milestone last week that is so sweet for us. Hudson has now been with us longer than he had been without us.....stil pinching ourselves!!!
Thanks for your prayers!!
Thanks for your prayers!!
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