An Update - and 10 Decisions

Wow, it's been over a week since my last post. A lot has happened. Here's a quick run-down to catch you up.

On Saturday after my "10 in 24," my family headed to Indiana on an old fashioned road trip to see some of my dad's family. We crossed Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Between the two kids, we heard "what town are we at?" about 200 times. All in all, we had a great weekend, and given the cancer-stuff with my dad this year, reconnecting with this side of the family meant a lot to me.

Roughly 15 minutes before we started the 12 hour drive home, my son announced he didn't feel good. We decided to forge ahead and it took us 6 hours to make it the 200 miles to St. Louis. We stopped at every gas station, McDonalds and rest area for him to get sick. Luckily for us, it only happened once in the car (and thankfully we were prepared). We made it as far as Colombia, MO and stopped for the night - along with 2 other families we'd seen along the way with their sick kids at pit stops. Tuesday morning, our son woke up still vomiting, but we agreed it was best to just get home.

After the first hour or so, he fell asleep and slept the entire 6 hours home - and all night. By Wednesday afternoon, we were at the hospital and being admitted. He was severely dehydrated and weak. He'd lost 6 pounds (a lot when you only weigh 45 to begin with).

So here it is Sunday and we're finally home. We did make it home for a few hours Thursday, but headed back Thursday night when the vomiting resumed. He was tested for an array of colon disorders, celiac disease (wheat allergy), "super-infection" (anitibiotic resistant) and a host of other things. We do know it's not colon related, although it is still inflamed. We haven't heard back on the labs, but he is keeping down toast now, so we're happy with that. Since Wednesday, all he's had is intravenous fluids and anti-nausea meds. He's begging for Thanksgiving dinner, so I'm throwing together a quick meal with the help of Sara Lee and Betty Crocker and hopefully, he can stomach a little turkey tonight.

Tomorrow we see an infectious disease specialist in Wichita to get to the bottom of why everything is so very difficult for our little man. We pray he has some answers, even if they are tough to hear.

So, here are 10 things I've decided this week - they are decisions that have been a long time coming, but several days not sleeping in a hospital has solidifed them:

1. I've decided that it's time to make some major changes in my life.


2. Such as: we're downsizing our home and our "things" so that I can...


3. ...get a less stressful and time-demanding job so that I can be with our children more - especially our son whom requires much more medical attention than most children.


4. This downsizing will probably be done in the same town as all of our family. We've decided that they support they provide is worth more than gold (even if they sometimes create more stresswhilst helping!!)


5. I've decided to seek guidance from a therapist. I have MUCH too much stress, and I don't need to be ashamed to admit it.


6. No matter what people say, I am delighted with our small town doctors and hospital. We've decided to include them more in our charitable giving for the amazing treatment they've given to us (even though they're already going to get thousands from us!)


7. I'm NEVER choosing something else over Christmas shopping with my sisters and mother-in-law. I missed it last weekend for our trip, and now I fear I'll not get a single gift purchased.


8. I hate coffee. I knew this before, but my decision is to NEVER drink it again, no matter how tired I am and awake I need to be.


9. I'm going to let up on my husband for decisions he makes - we'll figure stuff out. I don't need to harp on him for every decision he makes that I don't agree with. We are a team.


10. I've decided that life is pretty crappy most of the time, but that with my Lord, my family, my friends and my medical team, we can get through anything together.