I Think We're Back to Our "Normal"

Just a quick update... Paige is completely recovered from pneumonia. The only medicine she's on now is Singulair. Her doctor wants her to take it for 3 months to get through the spring. I think she's even de-toxed now from the steroids! We're seeing our fun Paige again instead of the one who throws temper tantrums and is moodier than a lady going through menopause!

Chase has done very well the last 2 days also with no complaints of pain or visible trouble. He's a tad grouchy... but I think that's because he's had such a lack of sleep this week! He does have to see the doctor next Friday for follow up and to determine if they'll do anything further at this time.

So... we're back to our "normal".

Always Helping Each Other Out...

Our kids have always gotten along well and tonight, we were able to capture it on camera!

Chase has missed some school this week for doctor's appointments and is preparing for end of quarter tests. After dinner, Kayleigh offered to help him and spent a great deal of time with him.

I absolutely love seeing it first-hand. I pray that they will always be as close as they are today.

Relay for Life

I am joining friends on May 15, 2009 to take part in the Relay for Life. I'm doing this in memory of my Mom, and in honor of the many friends and family we have that are dealing with cancer today. Please join me by clicking the Relay for Life link to the right and either donating, or participating in a walk near you.

It's Just Life As We Know It...

Someone said to me today "your life is like a circus... it's always something" and kind of laughed. Even though I know the person meant it in good fun, it hurt to hear it because we can't change what we've been dealt. We have to face things head on.

I said to a good friend later "I just wish our life were normal." She then said to me... "but really, what is normal?" That statement has stuck with me all day.

From the very beginning it was one thing after another. The night of our wedding it was below zero, record setting, low temps. We left the reception and went to our new home that night, to find that our furnace stopped working. We called some local hotels - NONE had occupancy! So, we wrapped up in clothes, blankets, and whatever we could find and slept in the smallest (but warmest) room of the house. The next morning, after unthawing, we went to leave for our honeymoon only to find that the antifreeze had frozen!

In the almost 18 years of marriage since then we have been dealt one thing after another... risky pregnancies, premature deliveries, devastating miscarriages, cancer, seizures, one injury after another, a child with an auto-immune heart disease, car accidents, and so much more. Our life rarely goes a month without some sort of doctor's appointment or crisis. Usually, we handle things pretty well and people are amazed that we are able to just brush it off as another day in the Lyons family.

In the last few weeks though, we have had more than our fair share thrown at us between Paige's pneumonia, Devin's ankle, and Chase's chest pain. Again today, Chase had another episode of dizziness, chest pain, and fever. We both dropped everything and rushed him to the doctor - yet again with no answers.

For the first time in a while, I am feeling very frustrated and overwhelmed. I've even shed a few tears. Michael is so strong and always so positive and seems to sense when I start to feel this way. He is so reassuring when he says to me "it is going to be FINE". And I know that he's 99% of the time right. It's so good to have him on my side!

The other thing I have on my side.... Faith! We have always been given the strength we need and a we always have a feeling of peace and comfort in everything that comes our way.

Last night, I read this:

2 Corinthians 1:3 & 4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received.

Admittedly, last night I just skimmed across these verses as I read the chapter. But after the events of today I was reminded of it and went back to read it again. I think it sort of answers those "why me?" questions that often pop up in my mind. A response to my comment to Evelyn today when I said "I just wish our life was normal". All of the things we have been through... the little things like freezing our tail ends off on our wedding night to the bigger things like watching Chase in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit receiving treatment for KD... we were being taught comfort... compassion... peace... and love so that we may be able to help others.

So for all of you who say "I just don't know how you do it"... or "your life is like a circus... it's always something" - you're right! But I have Jesus on my side so it'll be OK!


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Chase Felt Left Out...

Chase started experiencing chest pain at school this afternoon... accompanied by dizziness and some trouble breathing and fatigue. With his prior auto-immune cardiac history it scared him... and us! I raced home to get him and off we went.

After some chest x-rays and a brief exam, they deemed him in no immediate danger, so we're home tonight with no answers. We felt very rushed and are uneasy about some of the things that they said would need looked into:

1) His heart rate is low today... running 55-58. Average for a child his age is 70-90 and his usually runs in the mid to upper 80's. The low heart rate is what is probably causing the fatigue but they didn't know why it's low. This is a new problem for Chase...

2) He is running a fever - 101.4 when I picked him up, 99.6 while we were there. Because Paige is recovering from pneumonia we were hoping the chest x-ray would show he just had the same thing... nope! One of the key markers of his KD being acute is fever... so this is something we'll have to watch. If the fever continues for no other apparent reason he will need to have some labork done to rule out another KD relapse. He's never experienced chest pain with his KD though... so that is reassuring.

3) Because his left 1st and 2nd rib are fused together abnormally (congenital), the chest pain could be "growing pains" where the fusion is twisting and pulling a bit as he grows taller. Today, they felt that the fusion looked "fairly significant". We have to follow up with the specialist that did the CT scans 2 years ago so that they can compare today's chest x-ray with scans from then.

We will be following up with our family doctor, his cardiologist, and the doctor who did the rib scans in the next 3-5 days to look into some of the concerns and get some answers.

As always, Chase is a trooper and just goes with the flow!

Look Ma... I Got My Stuff By Myself!

This was quite the sight to see! Before bed, Paige came running into the living room all excited that she could carry all of her medicines by herself! Look closely... 3 bottles of liquid medicine, a medicine spoon, a spacer (the yellow thingy), and her inhaler (under the yellow thingy)! That's a lot of stuff for 2 little hands!

Anyhow, as you can see... she is feeling better. She got out of the house to go to church with us today and played Mario Kart with her brother.

I think we're on the road to recovery...

She's STILL Got It!!!

Yes, Paige is still trying to get over this pneumonia once and for all. Look how purple her little eyes are... She does pretty well between about 10am and 6pm... but between 6pm and 10am she really struggles and gets all junked up. Last night she woke up and just kept saying "it's all stuck in me" as she was trying to cough it up. Poor kid!

I called our doctor this morning and more or less demanded that they change her meds immediately and put her on antibiotic (which they did not end up doing earlier in the week). Within 15 minutes I had a call back from the nures... Paige is now on Omnicef antibiotics, Orapred oral steroids, Pulmicort and Albuterol neb treatments, and Mucinex D cough syrup.

If this mess of meds doesn't kick it we're in big trouble!

Gotta Love P-nonia!

We spent the morning with Dr. Irion... sure enough, Paige has pneumonia. The odd thing is, we think she looks and sounds a whole lot better today compared to the last few days.

She had a bad choking spell late last night that was nothing more than mucus. Dr. Irion felt that probably helped to start breaking it all up. She has a lot of crackling in her lungs, but hears a lot of popping when she breathes deeply... supposedly this is a good thing and means it's loosening and moving a bit.

After a few stronger neb treatments at his office, she was popping even more and moving air really well. So, we're home with more medicine and she seems happy. We should start to see Paige returning to her normal happy, healthy, self soon.

Still Pluggin' Along...

Today, it was Mommy's turn to snuggle on the couch with Paige. She did have a little bit of a better day today... even went outside for a short while this afternoon when it was in the 80's.

Tomorrow we see her doctor and will (hopefully) switch to the oral steroids to kick this out of her once and for all!

Daddy Makes It All Better...

Too sweet not to share...

The Return of the Nebulizer...

Our sweet Paige is not enjoying the first 78 degree day this season... instead she's curled up with a blanket on our recliner watching cartoons. She's trying so hard to not let the croup and crud get her down... but it's hard with all the non-stop barking, wheezing, and stridor making it tough to breathe and talk. Add to that the exhaustion of being up all night with it.

She thinks that asthma and croup suck! I'm pretty sure we all agree with her!

58.5 Seconds...

That's how long it took Devin to run his leg of the 4 x 400! Not bad for the first track meet after a pretty nasty ankle injury not long ago. He's still in physical therapy rehabbing it!

Unfortunately... it was the LAST race of the entire night. So even though this picture was taking with bright sunlight, we ended up with none of him running because it was so dark outside! This pic is what I call "his game face picture"! Look at that face!! It says "leave me alone Mom, I have to concentrate on what's coming up!".

Paige loves watching her big brother run! She stood so patiently at the fence asking "is this Devin's race" after each heat! Too cute!!


Devin, we're very proud of you!

Uh Oh... Not Looking Good....

This is what a little girl with a croupy cough and wheezing looks like... She curled up on Mike's recliner with her blankie around 6:30 this evening and didn't move. Look at those puffy eyes from coughing so hard she tears up!

Before she went to bed she got quite angry with me when I asked her if she felt ok... she said "I'm NOT sick and AM going to school tomorrow"!!!

Guess only time will tell...

You'll Not Be Forgotten, Mr. B...

This is why I do what I do!!!

A patient of mine that admitted last summer, passed away just after Christmas. He was a wonderful man that I completely enjoyed working with. I'll never forget the smile that would come across his face when I would mention his "lady friend".

Mr. B's daughter left a gift bag on my desk Friday, while I was out of town. It had a beautiful thank you note and this unique music box from his music box collection. I instantly had tears in my eyes. I am so deeply touched that his daughter would remember a therapist after his passing!

Mr. B, you will never be forgotten!

Weekend at Salt Fork

Mike and I, along with Chase and Paige, spend the weekend at Salt Fork State Park Lodge with Mike's family to celebrate his Dad's birthday. (See the post below on why Devin and Kayleigh weren't with us.) We spent Saturday enjoying the view from the deck while the kids played, swimming at the indoor pool, hiking Knob Trail, dinner, birthday cake, and family.

Mike and I drove home Sunday afternoon... right into a nasty snowstorm that started at the northern Virginia line, and we didn't drive out of it until the southern Virginia line!! The kids were pretty good considering the tension in the car!! As you can see in the video... it was not a friendly drive!

Once we crossed the North Carolina line it was pretty much just rain... until we got home! This is our street after the first real snow storm since we moved to North Carolina! Our total was 5 inches... areas nearby got as much as 8 inches!!!

We had a great weekend, despite the chilly ending! Lots of memories made with the Lyons Family!

Spring ROCC Youth Retreat

Devin and Kayleigh spent the weekend at the high school spring ROCC Youth retreat. This picture says it all! An awesome weekend of fellowship and prayer among the youth of our church.