Another Visit to the ER

Little Miss Averi developed a UTI shortly after swim lessons and was put on some antibiotics. They seemed to do the trick and her burning went away. She seemed to have made a quick and full recovery. Two or three weeks later, however, she started throwing up. She complained of her stomach hurting and threw up a few times so I figured it was a stomach bug. We kept her home the next day from church and I asked a guy in our ward (who's a pediatrician) what he thought of her symptoms. He thought it was the stomach flu since it was going around and said to give it a couple days. We dealt with it that night and the next day but Monday afternoon I decided to take her in to Urgent Care. The doc there thought it was likely a virus as well but we decided to check her for a UTI again just to make sure. Bingo! She tested positive. So they put her on antibiotics again and sent us home. They said that we would hear back from them within 48 hours regarding further test results.  The 48 hours went by and I hadn't heard back. Averi still had a fever of 103 so I called in to see if they had gotten results back. They hadn't heard anything but they asked how she was doing. When I told them what her temperature was, they told me to take her to the ER (what?!). So I made arrangements for Kadence since Doug was at work and I took Averi to Phoenix Children's. Averi was actually feeling okay aside from the fever so I felt pretty silly taking her to the ER but it's not like I would feel okay disobeying the doctor's orders. I tried to make it sound like a good thing that we were going to the hospital and told her how they have movies you can watch and how sometimes there are dogs there. She got pretty excited and kept accidently referring to the hospital as "the mall". When we got checked in they ran some tests on her, did some ultrasounds, and put in an IV. That was the only part I was a little worried about but she did awesome! The nurses were fantastic as well. One nurse brought out an iPad and helped her play games on it while the other two nurses put in the IV. Averi tried to look over and see what they were doing but nurse #1 would nonchalantly move the iPad over so she couldn't see. It was pretty awesome. She only whimpered a tiny bit right when they put the needle in but was easily distracted . She did great!

We spent two nights there while they gave her a strong dose of antibiotics via IV. She did throw up a little the first night, but by the second day she felt good and her fever was gone. It ended up being pretty much just a vacation for her since she was offered unlimited juice and soda (pushing the fluids), watched endless movies from her own reclining bed and personal TV, and was given numerous coloring books, crayons, stickers, puzzles, etc. She was basically in heaven. By the time she got home, however, she was totally exhausted and had a 5 hour nap (which was perfect because we went out to see fireworks that night for the 4th). It was a hard pill to swallow the next day when she realized she was going to have to start doing chores again.

 

Poor Averi fell asleep with her face in the throw-up bowl.

 In the ER getting ready to put the IV in

 Waiting to be admitted (with a snack, a new box of crayons, stickers, coloring book, and a smile!)

Getting ultrasounds

 Enjoying her own dine-in theater

What a brave and happy little girl I have. Love her to pieces!

 

 

That night we drove to a field across the street from the ballpark to see the fireworks.

 

Averi and doug sitting on the windshield. Kadence preferred the safety of her car seat.

 

Swimming Lessons 2014

This time around Averi got to have Kadence join her in her annual swim lessons. Averi did awesome and surprised her teacher with how well she could dive. So much so that we are considering diving lessons for next year. She is a total fish and oftentimes when we go swimming, people will come up to her and tell her what a good swimmer she is, ask her how old she is, and if she has had swim lessons. So, needless to say, she LOVED swim lessons!

Kadence screamed each time I handed her over to the teacher for her turn. She did her best to guilt me into quitting but I stood strong. I am glad I did because by her last two days she did much better and a couple times she even put her hands out for her teacher for her to take her. Then when she was done, she would smile and say "Mommy, I did it!". Melted my heart. Kadence learned how to kick to the wall and grab the edge. Then she would "monkey crawl" to the steps. She also liked to show off her monkey crawling skills on the dinner table (walking), on the side of the shopping cart, etc. "Mommy look, I monkey kwal!". So cute!

Kadence Inhales a Cashew

Kadence has been battling a mild couch for a couple of days but it was no big deal. For a snack one day I gave her some cashews and she loved them. We were being silly together and she was laughing when she choked and actually stopped breathing for a few seconds. Her face would turn bright red, then she would be able to get a little air in and then she would turn red again. I managed to get them out of her (with the Heimlich and back beatings) and chewed up cashews spewed out of her mouth. She seemed okay except that she kept coughing sporadically. I texted a couple people I knew in the medical industry and was told to keep an eye on her and to take her in if it persists or develops more symptoms. By the end of the day she wasn't coughing much anymore so I put her to bed. The next morning she seemed okay but as the day progressed she began to get more and more fussy and lethargic. I had a Relief Society activity that night and when I got back, Doug was holding her on the couch and trying to soothe her by letting her pet the cat (only thing that seemed to help). She was miserable. I took her temperature and it was 103. I put her straight in the car and drove her to the nearest open Urgent Care. By this time it was about 9:30pm and she was exhausted on top of feeling miserable. Surprisingly she tested positive for Strep Throat which was pretty random. The doc wanted to do X-Rays since her breathing was so rattily and I informed her of what happened with the cashews. The X-Ray showed Pneumonia on one side so they sent me off to Phoenix Children's Hospital. It was almost 11pm and the poor thing whined the whole way there (which took about 30 minutes since I had been driving on a donut tire after my tire blew out the day before). We went to the ER and they had to get new X-Rays. They informed me that we were going to have to put a scope in her lungs to clear them out and that she couldn't have anything to eat or drink until it was done. Of course that night was miserable for both of us. She couldn't breath very well, wanted to drink her "baba" and kept telling me that she just wanted to go home. Broke my heart every time. Finally at about 10am they took her in for the procedure. A couple of people had informed me that it should only take about 20 minutes to complete so after about 45 minutes of not having her named called in the waiting room, I began to get nervous. Many prayers were said! The elderly man who was volunteering at the front desk called "Kadence DeGraw" and I practically ran over to him. He stumbled around looking confused and finally said "I don't know why they had me call her name because she is still in surgery right now". Of course it is at a time like this where my "Worse-case Scenario" mind-set kicks in. I figured something must have gone wrong and they need my signature to perform an operation or something. I tried keeping it all together but then the man moved me into a small conference-type room with a desk, two chairs, a computer and a window. I had to wait there by myself for what seems like an eternity. That is when the flood gates opened and I became a pathetic mess. A doctor walked by and saw me from behind. He asked me a question (can't remember what it was) and then told me I looked really tense and that he was sure everything was okay. I felt like saying "How do YOU know?! You don't even know what's going on!" Of course I didn't but I really wanted to! It was only a few more minutes when Doctor Graziano came to my room and immediately informed me that the procedure was successful. I wanted to hug her. I loved her in the moment (and always). I got to see her shortly after that and she was pretty groggy still. That poor tiny thing. She came out of the anesthesia fairly quick though and we were able to go back to our room. I ordered a BIG lunch for her and a bunch of milk. She downed her sippy in record speed and ate a nice big helping of some chicken nuggets, french fries, and apple sauce. Yay! She honestly seemed SO much better pretty much immediately after the procedure. They kept us there one more night just to monitor her but all seemed to be well. We took home an antibiotic that we had to give her for 10 days which was a nightmare itself. Kadence does NOT like medicine and never has. When Doug wasn't home I was have to solicit Averi's help in holding her down so I could get it in her. That little TWIT! I am just glad she was okay and that she felt better so quickly. What a blessing that was.

These pics are before the procedure was done:

 These are after it was complete. They are pretty blurry but she was playing with some blocks that the nurse brought her and she was having so much fun building towers and then throwing blocks off the bed or at me.

 

The top picture is her airways before (practically flooding over with excess fluid and gunk). The bottom picture shows her airways after they were scoped out... MUCH better!

I am SO grateful for pediatric doctors who devote so much time and money toward their schooling so they can help save innocent lives. And I am grateful to Heavenly Father who answers prayers and provides comfort when it is most needed. 

Preschool Grad!

Averi finished up her last year of preschool! She has learned so much and has done really well. Her teachers loved her and complimented her on how courteous she is.

Doug went with her since I had to stay home with sick Kadence. She sang a few songs and recited a poem with her class then they each got to receive a certificate and a big green frog cookie (her favorite part)!

Now on to new adventures!