So long, 2010!

Update on Adam:  Driving, going out in the light, and working full days! His eye still looks sore and itches at times, but he is definitely headed the right direction. His complaint (if he did complain) would be that he can’t wear contacts yet. But he has even worked out a couple of times in his glasses and survived.

 

One day I tried to count all the prescriptions he’s had in the past few months but I lost track. Somewhere between 15 and 20, I think. He’s down to only two- one eye drop and one for his damaged nerves- and he can’t wait to be rid of those!

My prayer is that we never forget what God has done to carry us through this and that we never take our health for granted again. Good health is definitely a gift from God and we need to use it and not waste it:)  So here’s to a HEALTHY 2011!!

It’s a good day!

I’ve purposely not posted in awhile because it’s been kind of a rough week. The itching has been so bad that it causes Adam to get no sleep. It’s so hard to watch him be so uncomfortable all day and than not even be able to go to sleep at night! He also still has been unable to drive due to light sensitivity.  But then today he saw the opthalmologist for the first time in a couple weeks, and got the good news that the inflamation in his eye is completely gone!! And after going into work this morning he called me with the best news HE WAS NOT ITCHY!

I believe it’s no coincidence that he started acupuncture treatments this to treat the neuralgia (nerve damage) that is causing the itching. He has 3 treatments under his belt and that has to be what is doing the trick!

It’s really hard to not get excited about any kind of progress we see. I hope there are more and more great days in our near future-and that we won’t be completely discouraged if there are still some hurdles to overcome.

Riding the rollercoaster

So, on Tuesday Adam put in a good day and was even able to work from about 9-3. Yesterday he paid for it and was back home from work by 10 a.m. and had to spend most of the day with his eyes shut. Today he seems a little better again. We think that one of the medications that keeps his eye dilated to reduce inflamation makes his “photophobia” that much worse. Called today and found out that we can switch to doing that one only at night.

A funny moment in all of this occured a couple of nights ago after he had taken all of his bedtime meds and then fell asleep on the couch. He wouldn’t wake up when I shook him, so I decided to leave him there when all of a sudden he lurched off the couch and started stumbling around all over the living room. LOL-I thought he was going to smash through a wall! Lesson learned- always make sure your 6’6” husband is in bed BEFORE giving him his tranquilizer:)

Good news…it’s just going to take awhile!

Overall, the news we received today was comforting. First from the neurologist at Mercy, we found out that Adam’s brain is not affected at all. He was not alarmed at all with the symptoms he is having and said that this is pretty standard recovery time for shingles of the eye. It’s just going to take longer than we thought it would to recover. Basically, the nerves on the surface of his eye and around it are damaged and “mad” right now and therefore producing the photophobia. He said that we’ll see a slow and steady improvement over the next 3 months. He was able to prescribe another medicine to help repair the nerves and one to help him sleep through the itching at night.

Then we headed to the U of I for a second opinion from another cornea specialist. After having a ton of bright lights shined in his eyes (poor guy) they agreed with everything that Wolfe Clinic is already doing, added one more drop to keep his eye dilated and increased the dosage on all of his current medicine. They too, said that recovery will be long and slow. There can be lingering and secondary problems associated this, but we’ll deal with that if it happens.

We can handle with slow recovery as long as we know now that it’s not something more serious. Yay~!  It is amazing how God has programmed our bodies to heal and even provides the “tech support” along the way!:)

Heading to IC

Usually when we talk of going to Iowa City, it’s for a better (and more fun) reason than getting a second opinion from a specialist. We are, however, happy that we are getting to the bottom of this problem as quickly as we can.

The doctors at Wolfe have referred Adam to a neurologist tomorrow morning at 8:00 to hopefully get to the bottom of why his eye isn’t getting better and then we go on to Iowa City for a 1:00 appt. with another ophthalmologist. Grandma Ellen headed home to sleep and get some clean clothes and will be back tomorrow to pick up the kids from school/daycare.

We’re not sure if it’s the postherpetic neuralgia (after-shingles pain) that we’ve read so much about, but Adam is having more pain again in addition to the extreme light sensitivity. I’m praying that the pain is just the virus making its way out of our lives for good!

Still fighting

It’s hard to believe that on Monday we will have been home from the hospital for 2 weeks. When we first got home, Adam had relief from the pain and light sensitivity and was able to go into work for short periods of time by using an eye patch and keeping the lights off in his office.

This week seemed to be a step back as the virus migrated completely into his eye; specifically his cornea. Due to the increased lesions on his cornea, his light sensitivity is extreme. The doctors have told us that it’s not uncommon for light sensitivity to affect both eyes, and that is what has happened for Adam. He’s most comfortable during the daylight hours hiding his head under a blanket:(

We are putting steriod drops in his eye 6 times/day, and hoping that will be the trick to curbing the light sensitivity. We are so grateful that we have the specialists at Wolfe Eye Clinic in our backyard.

We are praying for complete healing and know that God has that in his power! Thank you for your support through prayer:)

The kids are in Osage this weekend so Adam can have the house quiet and dark; I’m so happy that going to Nana and Papa’s is like one big party for them!

Halloween!!

Nana had fun shopping for costumes this year and came up with a purple witch for Jaeley and a wizard for Brev. Their jokes for the year were; Jaeley: “What does a witch eat?” –booberry pie.  Brevin: “Who does a wizard marry?” –his goul-friend.

Nana found the silver fabric and had the cape made by a friend. It was sooo cool!

Telling their jokes to neighbor Carrie.

Just like last year they only wanted to go around the block, and then were ready to sit on our porch and hand out candy to the HUNDREDS of trick-or-treaters we get! As witnessed by the look on Brev’s face, we were getting a little tired by this point…

Earlier in the week, Daddy felt good enough to help us carve the pumpkin. 

Dressing up at Peterson’s house. We went for dinner to celebrate Kendra’s 16th bday. Classic Jaeley expression for the picture.

At home-resting comfortably

It feels good to be home! We got home at about 4:00, after an eye appointment. They said that there are minimal lesions on his cornea so we need to watch those, but it's nothing to be really concerned about. Adam has switched to all oral medications, and I think it's a lot easier to get comfortable without an iv in his arm. He has follow up appointments scheduled in the next week to make sure all the inflamation is going down in his eye. He is supposed to rest for a few days at home, but should be back to work by the end of the week or Monday at the latest.

Brevin and Jaeley spent the weekend in Osage with Nana and Papa, and then got to spend the day today out at the Sponheim farm with Bunita. Grandma Ellen brought them back home tonight. We let them know that Daddy was in the hospital over the weekend and Brevin was a little alarmed, but then just had a lot of questions. "Did Daddy have to have a shot?" "What does the hospital look like?" "Did he get to eat candy there?" All the important stuff;)

It's hard to not take health for granted when we're feeling well. It's something that you never think about until a shock like this happens. I won't soon forget to thank God for healing Adam and for our family's good health!

GOING HOME!

They just came in and said we're going home! We're supposed to go straight to Wolfe Clinic to have Dr. Suh check his eye, and then we'll be heading back to our house:)

The team of doctors that came in was the funniest thing I ever saw. Had to turn on the fan because Adam started sweating with 16 eyes focused on him.

IV is officially out...Praise God!!

Monday update

Adam put in a good night and did get some sleep again. He hasn't used any morphine since last night at 8:00 p.m., so that is awesome news!  The shingles look like they're drying up and swelling has gone down.

Two docs have come in this morning so far: one said that he would not go home til tomorrow, and one said today! Let's hope for today:)  They said that a team of docs consisting of attendings, residents, and med students would be coming in to take pictures of his poor face and talk about him so that will be.....weird.

One more night

Late update, but Adam was not released today. They are happy with the progress he is making on the iv anti-viral medication and were not ready to take him off of that. Also, it's easier for him to see all the doctors involved if he stays here. I think there is a good chance that he will get to go home tomorrow, either with Home Health coming to our house to continue the iv meds or if he's REALLY lucky he'll be on oral medication by that time:) One of the things they are monitoring closely is the fact that the shingles did affect his cornea. They don't seem overly concerned-but want to keep an eye on it (no pun intended.)

They are still wracking their brains trying to figure out how this happened to a healthy 33 year-old. I'm so glad that Adam can talk for himself now- so he can answer the same questions over and over every time someone new comes in:) We have been told that since his case is a first, it will be reported and published in a medical journal....not the way you want to gain celebrity!

We feel so blessed that only 3 days ago he was completely incapacitated by pain and has healed so much.  Still praying that the shingles run its course quickly and that there will be no scar tissue to deal with.

Thanks

Adam is still sleeping...yay! So I wanted to take the chance to thank everybody who has prayed, texted, emailed, called, or offered to help. When Adam couldn't read or handle his phone, I was reading the texts to him and I know it was a boost to know that people care:) I don't know what we would do without the help we've had with the kids-you know who you are-THANK YOU! It's such a relief to know that they don't skip beat to have someone else who loves them take care of them. They know that Adam hasn't felt well, but don't know that he's in the hospital- it would worry them a lot, and then they would want to come and see him...and it's just not the place for them to be. We don't need them to catch anything!

Saturday night

The good news is that Adam got some sleep last night, I think. The nurses just came in to draw labs and do meds and then I got up for the day, but Adam was able to go back to sleep so that was good. We requested a sleeping pill last night so I think that helped...hard to get comfortable when you're 6'6" in a hospital bed and you have an iv in your arm! 

He was having some pain this morning before I came out to the lobby-and I noticed that the right side of his face is more swollen than yesterday. In the night he got out of bed and got so cold that they had to bring in heated blankets and give him an anti-nausea medication.

We'll be anxious to talk to the doctors this morning about how they think things are going...one of them said we might get out today, but the other one said Monday. Yesterday was such a good day but after last night I can see why they might want to monitor him longer.

We feel blessed that God has put a team together to take care of Adam's eye and Adam has thanked him multiple times for the person who invented morphine:) (His quote after we left the emergency room early Friday morning was "That.was.AWESOME." -talking about the morphine.  We're praying that God will continue to help him bare the pain and that his eye will heal quickly.

Adam in the hospital

It's a bummer that I'm finally updating the blog for the first time in two months with that subject:(

Adam was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon after being diagnosed with two different ailments: shingles of the eye and  pseudotumor oculi (or idiopathic orbital inflammatory syndrome.) Yes, that's the language we're speaking now after a week of hearing doctors use those terms and others like them! Here it is in layman terms: chicken pox in his eye,  and inflamed eye muscles that are squeezing his eyeball. Both cause excruciating pain and the poor guy has them on top of each other.

The opthamologist said that not only has he never seen these two conditions together, but that it may be THE first time it's ever happened.  Because of that, they wanted a more a team approach to try to decide how to treat him, since the steroids used to treat the pseudotumor could make the shingles worse. In addition his pain was completely unmanageable at home and he needed to be on a morphine iv for any relief.

No word on why this occurred- seems to be a freak thing; since he is otherwise completely healthy.

So far he is responding well to iv meds and is doing so much better than yesterday (or the 4 days before that!) If he keeps improving we'll be released tomorrow.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Brevin’s First Day of School

For weeks and weeks you have been looking forward to going to school. You were so excited the night before that you were awake from 2 am to 4 am just talking to me:)  Made for a hard time waking up, but once you did you were ready to go!

Breakfast was pancakes and sausage and you chatted with Jaeley while you ate. You picked out your favorite purple polo shirt and your new Sketchers. (Whenever you put them on you say “Buy Sketchers!” from the commercial??) We went shoe shopping for velcro shoes last week so you would be able to do them yourself while at school and not have to ask the teacher to tie them for you.

It was a rainy day, so we took the picture on the front porch…you wanted Jaeley with you.

What a good-looking guy!

We went to pick Daddy up at work so he could be part of your first day and parked the car. You pulled out your Scooby Doo umbrella and sang “Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?” all the way up to the front door. When we got there, you called goodbye to us, but I thought it would be better to escort you to your classroom…(may not have been the best idea as you’ll see in a minute.)

This is your Pre-K teacher, Mrs. Pettit! When we got into your classroom you put your name under juice for your snack later in the day and found your nametag at your table. Everything seemed in order, so all three of us gave you a hug and started out of the classroom. You must have felt it was not right to have your whole family leaving you in a strange place because you chased us down the hall:( I went back into the room with you and you cried for a little bit…and I tried to hold my tears back. It didn’t take long for me to know that you would do better once I left so we pried your little hands from around my neck and I left you to read a book with Mrs. Pettit. 

I sped walked down the hall and out of the building so as to get back to the van before the real crying started! I can’t believe how fast these 5 years went.

Luckily, I had a place to go:) A few moms got together for a cry-n-coffee. It was the perfect setting and just what I needed to get me through that first morning. There was the perfect combination between crying and dancing to have the kids starting/back to school!

Your good friends Joel Merschman and Peyton Meyer are in your class. When I picked you up at 2:30- Mrs. Pettit informed me that you did great and did not cry long at all after we had left. You talked about the lunchroom the most and loved the hotdogs. You were also mad that you didn’t get to ride the bus-too bad, buddy! As long as I can, I will be your personal escort to your new adventure!

Brevin

Today at your 5 year check-up you were 44 in. tall and 44 lbs! 71st percentile in height and 72nd percentile in weight- pretty much where you have been on the chart since you were born.

You LOVE to pretend and spend a lot of time dressing up  with Jaeley. You’ve recently earned the privilege to ride your bike on the street when it’s not busy and down to the cul-de-sac. You can just taste freedom. We have to remind you to put on your helmet all the time!

I asked about bedwetting at your appt. and they said it’s normal for boys at your age- you’re dry 5 nights a week, so that will keep improving:)

Brevin’s Bday party

We were lucky we were able to carry on with Brev’s bday party at planned with all the flooding! (As you can see here in the background.) I CANNOT believe that we were celebrating your 5th birthday!! You invited neighbors, cousins, and a few friends to swim at the Adel pool for the afternoon.

 

Grabbing a snack during one of the pool breaks

Because it was your birthday party, the lifeguards let you sit in the lifeguard chair…

and then jump out of it!!

Brevin and Joel

Pumped about the Backugons!!! Before the party you said to me, “So you mean that I’m going to be the ONLY ONE opening presents!?” Birthdays rule, huh Brev?

Brevin and David

Costco cake! Yum.

 

We had to pretend to blow out the candles because it was too windy to get them lit. You were a good sport about it.

Daddy was supposed to have come, but unfortunately got the flu and was miserable in bed with temperature. Good thing for pictures and video!

Sweet Corn Fest-The Big Day

The day began with the annual 5K run-Adam and I could both run it because of Erika staying overnight, and were both happy with our times…because we ran it together; holding hands. YAH RIGHT! Just checking to see if you were still reading…Adam’s last words to me before the race began were “Yep, I’ll run with you…until you see the tail-lights.” Thanks honey.  Jessie Zeigler and I set our pace and crossed the finished line in 26:40. Adam was 23:something.

Brevin, Jaeley, and neighbor Lexi watching the parade.

BAHAHAHA! Adam made his third appearance on the Rotary 10-man bicycle and armed himself with a squirt gun. Oh, the fun:)

Battle of the area fire departments. Felt awesome to get wet and cool off.

The day concluded with parents’ night out at a couple adult gatherings and the beer garden downtown featuring “Gimmick” as the band. No pictures to document this portion of the festival:)

Sweet Corn Fest

Adel’s sweet corn festival kicked off tonight with the corn shucking- 7 1/2 tons of corn needed to be shucked in order to be served up for FREE the next day, so we joined in. This year, Adam was in charge of organizing the event-so the kids got some special treatment and got help him…IN the truck!

Erika stayed the whole weekend with us!  We loved having her:)

Are they “sweet!?”

After the shucking we set up the fire pit in the standard spot between Seidl’s and our house. It was hot, but we NEEDED smores!

Neighbor Sarah playing tea party with the girls

Relaxing Friday night before the big day the next day-we were all in bed by 10:00:)

Ready or Not: PreK here we come!

Much to my surprise, I have been struggling with the idea of Brevin starting Pre-K a week from today on August 17th. Signs that I'm losing it include: receiving a very nice letter from his teacher, Mrs. Pettit, only to bawl the whole way through it and then cry every time I talk about it after reading it AND having to quickly look away from the calendar after I see we only have days left before school starts.

I'm worried about if he'll get too hungry between breakfast and lunch, if he'll be able to handle bathroom duties by himself, and if he'll get too tired with the all-day everyday schedule. And I'm worried about myself on the days I'll still be home with Jaeley-that there will be a huge void in the house.

So tonight Brev and I went out-just the two of us- to spend some time together. We did a few random errands and then went to pick out his birthday party supplies and order a cake for this weekend.  I turned off the radio in the car and we talked the whole way into West Des Moines. I think that was his favorite part of the evening as he was able to talk freely without a little sister to interrupt him-which has really been bothering him lately. We stopped and got a slice of pizza and a pop at Casey's and ate it on the way; his choice.

And I made sure to notice all the little things that make Brevin himself-putting his shoes on the wrong feet, worrying about Jae when we left because she was crying, reaching up to hold my hand on the way into the store....

I can't believe how perceptive this kid is, but on the way home he asked; "Mommy, are you sad I'm growing up?" I said, "No, that's the way it's supposed to be." I think I convinced him...now I just need to convince myself!

My Garden

This is the only produce to come from my garden. It’s a red pepper. There were supposed to be cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and green peppers in addition to this lonely little guy. Adam says that we need to landscape the area where my garden is, but I refuse….next year I WILL have fresh vegetables. In the meantime- all the produce from Dad’s garden is tasting REALLY GOOD! 

Weekend with the cousins

The kids were able to spend some quality time with Maggie and Riley this weekend. On Saturday they went over to their house in Johnston while we were at a golf-outing party.  After Ankeny Splash Park and pizza/popcorn/movie night at their house- they did it again today when they came over here!  We need to do this more often! Although it IS busy with four kids and I didn’t get one picture:(

Melissa’s 30th

 

Happy 30th Melissa! As shown-Adam REALLY wished they would have played Miley’s “Party in the USA” so he could do his butterfly actions.

Sick in the Summer??

We were supposed to have an eye appointment for Brevin and spend the day at Raccoon River, but instead poor Brevin spent the day soooo sick. He typically runs high temps-and today it got up to 105.2. We were ready to take him to the doctor, but Motrin did the trick and lowered his temp. He woke up the next day like nothing ever happened. Crazy!

Daycare Swap

In order to save some money on daycare costs-we do a daycare swap with the Dawes’. Today was our day to have them over to play-so we filled it up with a picnic, park-time, and swimming. Braylon and Brevin are only six months apart in age and always have a good time wrestling and beating each other up!?

The guys enjoying their ice cream at the Dairy Shoppe after the pool.

The Vinton Padres-starring Uncle Judd

We spent Saturday night in Vinton and were able to see Uncle Judd play baseball this morning. Although we were pretty impressed with his efforts while we were there-we heard that he pitched after we left and had 10 strike-outs!

I wonder if Uncle Judd could have been distracted by all the WHINING going on at the game!? Here is a picture of Jaeley in mid-whine right after leaving the game- and it didn’t stop ALL DAY. Wow…the patience required by mommy and daddy on this leg of the trip was off the charts.

 

Didn’t grab an in-the-moment pic of Brevin in his bad mood-but this is a pretty good representation.

The kids and I hung out in Osage while Adam headed to Clear Lake to take Uncle Matt out for his birthday. I am shown here trying to get Miss Grouchy down for nap- I did not succeed.

Visitors while at Ahnya and Papa’s included Great Grandpa and Grandma, Lindsay, and Lauryn/Syenna. AND we went swimming!  Whew-this was a BIG weekend.

Tour of Iowa

We began our tour of Iowa by heading to North Liberty for the Bisgard’s housewarming party. It was so fun seeing them and the Iowa City crew again!

Adam grew up playing a game made up by the Bisgards called “garage ball.” I would need him to do a guest article on the blog to explain all the rules-but they LOVE IT!  The guys were able to break in the new garage with a couple heated games. Pictured here are Jace and Adam determining whether or not the ball was in the strike zone.

Mr. B in mid-pitch and Adam ready to field the hit.

The kids had a blast! Nothing better than a party:)