Israel Post Surgery Update

(Again...updates from my Facebook page.)
Update #11 Today has been a very good day, but also very long. Izzy was able to get his splint and drain line removed (and it wasn't painful...huge praise!) We have found a good pain management system to keep him feeling good (another praise). He is eating and drinking pretty normally (Praise). Jon took today and tomorrow off work to be here with us (Another big praise...we love owning our own business!) We saw SO many different medical people I couldn't even begin to list them, but they were all good (praise). We still don't know what the infection is or the cause of it. Nothing is showing up on the labs, which is why we are still here. We are PRAYING they find out tomorrow so we can go home, if not we will stay another night. We played a LOT in the playroom...Izzy loves it in there...and we also watched a few movies. Plus...we had visitors! So wonderful to see familiar faces and talk with people we know. Thank you Kimella & Bryan,  Leyla & Ari, Sue (Nana), Don (Papa), Jesse, Rachel & Jaxon for coming today and for all the lovely treats you brought us. We are blessed! Lots of praises in todays post...thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

Lots of sleeping for this little sweetie!
 

Skyping with Sissy & Bubba sure did help!


Izzy & Daddy time

 Mommy & Izzy were best friends through all of this!

HOORAY for finally getting outside! We missed those smiles!

 

Playing in the hallway with Daddy! More smiles!

Update #12 WE ARE GOING HOME TODAY!!!!! (most likely this afternoon) We are just a "little" excited about it! We will meet with the doctors again today and learn everything we need to do/expect and get the last of the details from the lab results etc. We will be going home with the PICC line in and we will administer the IV antibiotics every 8 hours for the next three weeks. After that we will come back for follow up appointments. Thank you again, truly...thank you for everything you have done for us through all of this. It doesn't matter if you have come and visited, sent messages, texts, calls, said prayers or whatever...we are thankful! It has made such a difference for us. Much love to all of you!

"I'm going home and this is how excited I am about it"

 

Update #13 We are HOME! We got home around 5:00 this evening after a long and uneventful day. On our way home we stopped at the home health nurse place to get all the meds and training on how to administer Izzy's IV meds. Once we were home I was struck with overwhelming exhaustion and yet there was so much to do and get done at my house. I found a balance with getting a few necessary things done and yet relaxing as well. Rachel & Jaxon are home, it was so wonderful to see them again! All the kiddos are sleeping and I have my alarm set for 1:30 am to give Izzy meds (which will take 25 minutes). Wow...what a long and unexpected 5 days we just had. We are very thankful to finally be home and cannot wait to sleep in our own beds tonight! Thank you again for all your love and support! HUGE Thank You to Nana for keeping Rachel and Jaxon for 4 days and also to my sweet friend Brandi for taking them all day today (even though she had so much of her own things going on) and spoiling/loving them very well. What a blessing to have such great friends/family in our lives. (wondering if I should stop numbering them since we are home now...lol)
 

Update #14 We made it though our first night and full day at home. It is going to be a bit of a balancing act figuring out the scheduling of meds and getting our life to work around them. Izzy is doing well, although struggling to adjust to the fact that life isn't quite back to "normal" just yet. He can get around, but it's a lot more challenging for him and he often sadly says "I can't walk Mommy" :-( He also isn't a huge fan of sitting still for 30 minutes twice a day during his IV med time (the third one we get to do while he sleeps, so that's great!). I organized all the medical equipment and stuff that goes along with it. I also downloaded an app for my iPhone that reminds me when it's time for Izzy's meds and keeps track of everything for me! (Thank God for technology!) We were ALL catching up on sleep last night and it felt amazing! Rachel slept 12 hours, Jaxon slept 13 hours, and Izzy slept 13 1/2 hours!!! Then he took a 3 hour nap! We appreciate your continued prayers as we all adjust to this new lifestyle. Love & Blessing!

Unexpected Turn of Events - Emergency Surgery

I have been wanting to write a post since all of this began on Friday, but truthfully I have NOT had enough time. So for now, I am going to copy and past all of my Facebook updates to here so those of you who are not friends with me on Facebook can get a little idea of what's going on in our lives right now and be up to date :-)

Izzy update...we went from our pediatricians office to Doernbechers ER...we are currently waiting for the doctors to come up with a plan. He either has an infection in his knee joint or something else similar. I love it here and know we are in good hands. I will keep you posted as I know more. (Thankful for my sister who dropped her plans to be with me!)

Izzy Update #2...Whew, Been a LONG evening! Here is the short version. We have seen a whole bunch of people here at Doernbecher's and the plan we came up with was to sedate Izzy, draw blood (they have to do it from his head), put in an IV (which they also have to put in his head), and take fluid from his knee joint to test for infection. I stayed in with him for that and it was awful! It was exhausting for the hour after sedation as well. He is finally sleeping (thank you morphine!) and we are waiting to hear back from the test results. If it is infected they will take him into surgery tonight. I will keep you posted. THANK YOU for the prayers!

Izzy update #3 - After 7 hours in the ER we were finally admitted to the hospital. They moved us to a normal room, he is still sleeping well. We got the quick lab tests back from the fluid they took from his knee joint and his white blood count is very high...but they haven't yet decided if they want to do surgery or try antibiotics for 48 hours. They are very curious to see what the "long term" lab tests show, that take 24-48 hours. So far they started him on IV antibiotics. My sister went home to get some rest. Rachel & Jaxon have spent the day/night with Nana, and Jon and I are going to attempt some sleep. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Izzy update #4 Good morning world!!! Or something like that :-) last night was terrible, I think we might have got 2 hours sleep...otherwise it was in 10-15 minute increments between crying. I'm exhausted and needed to get some food so I left Jon with Izzy, of which he cried. The plan is to send Izzy to surgery sometime this morning to clean the infection out of his knee. Will keep you posted.

Right before surgery...but after being given "goofy juice" to help him relax.

Last kisses from Mommy before heading into surgery...so sad!

 

Izzy update #5 HE IS IN SURGERY NOW! Please be praying. I should hear from them in about an hour. They are making an incision in his knee, flushing it out and then rinsing it with antibiotics. Then they will place a drain in it to be left in for a few days. They said we should plan to be there through Tuesday! Whew...this weekend sure didn't turn out the way we had planned. Thanks for your prayers.

Izzy update #6 Surgery is done, everything went great. We talked with the doctor and he was happy with how things went. He has a huge bandage (more like a soft cast) on his whole leg and a drainage tube in his knee. They are doing more tests on new fluid. He is still out...I know when he wakes up thing will be hard!

Post surgery

Update #7 Izzy is still resting well, woke up once quite upset but went back to sleep. Unfortunately the IV in his head stopped working and they were unable to get another one in. Due to the fact that he will need IV antibiotics for a few days, pain meds and fluids they have decided to put in a pic line...which means taking him back to the OR and sedating him again.

Update #8 got the PICC line in...finally! Something that should have taken 10 minutes took nearly an hour! Most people have 3 major vains in their arms, Izzy only has 1 in each arm. Plus, once they were in they couldn't get it to feed through. Needless to say, he made them work for their jobs today! They completely sedate him for this procedure and he is still out. Praying he sleeps for a while longer. I will keep you all posted, although this should be the last of the "big" news! Thank you SO much for the continued prayer and support! It means more then you know!

Update #9 WOW! What an amazingly different night we had! It was wonderful! WE SLEPT!!! We went to bed at 11:00 and woke up at 7:30! (Of course we were woken up all throughout the night for vitals and to go potty...but still!) We figured out a good pain management schedule and for the first time today he said his leg isn't hurting! In addition, the orthopedist came in and spoke with us. He gave us more details about the surgery and what we are waiting for (the cultures to come back from the fluid) before we can determine a long term plan. We should have those answers by tomorrow. SO thankful for all of you...our amazing friends and family. Your prayers, words of encouragement, texts etc. have been so helpful during this time. Love you all!

Update #10 For starters I must say it's 8:00 am on Monday morning and Izzy (and Daddy) is still sleeping!!! He went to bed at 10:30 and NEVER woke up last night. Not even while they gave him oral meds, did blood pressure or took his temp! Or to go to the bathroom...good thing I put a diaper on him! I'm pretty sure we all were beyond exhausted and needed that rest. He is drinking and eating normally so they were able to take him off IV fluids, which is wonderful! No more permanent cord attached to his arm, just the PICC life for when he needs his antibiotics every 8 hours. Yesterday we spent a lot of time playing, we went to the playroom and outside on the playground. It was wonderful to see him laughing and smiling again. Today we meet with the orthopedist and he will remove the splint, remove the drain and change the dressing on Izzy's leg. They said this will be painful but won't last long. Also, we are hoping and praying the lab results are done today so we can know enough about Izzy's infection and make a going home plan! As always...thanks for all the love and prayers. I LOVE checking my phone throughout the day and being encouraged continually by all of you. LOVE YOU!

4th of July Family Fun

4th of July is always a fun time for our family. This year we were able to celebrate with some of Jon's family. His brother David and his family (Wife Amity, two kids Amanda & Titus) were in town and we all enjoyed a fun at home fireworks display. This was Izzy's first year participating in the fun. He enjoyed it...but was a bit nervous the whole time. Fire and loud noises are on his "favorite things" list.

Izzy's first time with a sparkler...he was a little nervous.

 

Izzy & Aunt Amity

David & Titus

Mama & Izzy watching the fireworks

Rachel and cousin Amanda enjoying the fireworks together.

Papa helping Rachel and Jaxon get their sparklers started.

Rachel...seriously enjoying this years fireworks! 

 

Grandma got in on the fun too!

My baby girl turns 10!

I know this blog was designed to share our story of Israel...but for today I am sharing it with my amazing, sweet, bright, loving daughter Rachel. On July 1st she turned 10 years old! I know it is so cliche to say...but truly where does the time go? In some ways it feels like it was only yesterday that I was bringing her into the world, yet on the other hand it feels like she has always been a part of my life. Rachel came to us as a surprise...and I can honestly say it was the best surprise I have ever received. She has blessed my life in more ways then I could even being to list. She has taught me so much about myself and been a huge contributor to me becoming the person I am today. I am SO thankful that God gave me this little girl to share life with. I could not imagine my life without her in it. I LOVE YOU Rachel Anne and I am SO proud of who you are and everything you have accomplished in your 10 years! I look forward to the next 10 years of life with you with great anticipation and expectation!

 

I hung balloons on her door with a sign, so when she woke up this was her surprise!

 

My beautiful 10 year old!

 

Rachel got her first "grown up" bike!

Swimming Lessons

So...I put all three kiddos in swimming lessons this summer!!!

Rachel has been taking them for a while and loving it...flying through the levels. Her teacher told us she should join swim team!

Jaxon is a good swimmer...but doesn't have a lot of technique, so I thought it would be good for me. He did well, but would much rather just play and not work...very typical of him!

Izzy LOVES the water, but we have had our share of "stare" issues with public swimming pools and I was hesitant, to say the least. However, it didn't feel right that I would hold him back from something he loves because of my own fears. I talked with the head life guard at the pool ahead of time as well as his teacher and felt as prepared for the unknown as I could be. Day one came and I was reluctant to let him go. Even though I was right there on the edge of the pool...it was a huge letting go step for me. But I did it! He did lessons five days a week for two weeks and it was WONDERFUL! He did amazing and loved it. In fact, he was one of the best in his class!!! His teacher was fantastic at treating him just like she did everyone else. She continually told me how impressed she was with him and everything he could do. I am SO thankful I took this risk!

 

Izzy & his wonderful teacher Jessica

 

Swimming with his face in the water!

 

  

Sitting dive!

Summer Splashes

So...I took the summer off blogging..in case you hadn't noticed. I enjoyed being super busy with tons of fun kids and family activities and decided to set blogging aside until now. A lot happened this summer! So I thought I would give you some "Summer Splashes" of what we did and all the memories we made...and then share more details in later posts to come.
 

Swimming Lessons

Berry Picking

Rachel's 10th Birthday

4th of July

Camping

Physical Therapy

Park Days

Zoo

Crooked River Ranch

Family Pictures

Camp Attitude

 Silver Creek Falls