Monday, August 3, 2015

A New Beginning

This one is going to be a bit different because I'm dealing with two different things at the same time...and they are both a little stressful...but not in a terrible way...and I haven't written in forever.

We moved into a new-to-us home. Exciting and a little daunting. We moved into a new home while my daughter was feeling sick. Not fun and slightly unnerving. We got to sleep in the new house for two nights...THEN...

My daughter's "feeling sick" thing sent us to the ER for the third time in two weeks. The ER sent her to Children's Hospital in Oakland. Children's Hospital gave her a CT scan and put her in the ICU.

Short story...she had sinusitis that went crazy and tried to kill her or give her brain damage.
God story...she has been in such good health that the infection went all over her sinuses and snuggled her brain but didn't attack anything. They said it was one of the worst cases they have seen...they only see 1-2 cases a year...but it didn't attack anything...which is weird. She was also one of the fastest recoveries they have ever seen. Her quick recovery happened so soon that the day after her brain surgery, then sent her down to the regular ward because she didn't exactly fit the requirements of ICU...and she would probably heal better/faster where she could actually sleep...which would not be the ICU. That place is noisy...there are only curtains between each kid.

So people have said to me, "Holy cow! You must have been terrified!" Really what I was thinking was, "Dude! I totally didn't mess up! There really was something wrong with her. Cool. Now I'm here at the best of the best and they can take the stress now." I was so nervous to take her back to the ER for the third time in two weeks. It almost felt like I was being a crazy mom...ooh, she has a tiny headache, let's take her to the ER...oh, no, she has the sniffles, she might be dying...wow, look at her eye, it looks like it's going to explode... I am so glad I have such good friends to support me and encourage me to take her back in. I am so thankful I had the courage to do it.

Long story...my daughter got a little bit sick during Buddy Bears. She recovered in a day and a half...this sickness may or may not be involved in the big picture. The following week, she had her first ever migraine. On the fourth day of continuous migraine, I took her to the ER. They gave her fluids and medicines. She felt better. We went home. The next day, she had a headache across her whole forehead and the cheek under the eye that had previously had the migraine was swollen. I thought it was allergies. I tried many things for a few days. She wasn't eating. The only thing she did was sleep. So I took her back to the ER. (I tried to take her to urgent care but couldn't find one under her insurance...weird, I know.) While we were there, a lady had a baby in the bathroom. It was quite an interesting experience. That set everything back though. After we had been there for quite a few hours...and still had one more person ahead of us...we decided to leave. I said yes to leaving because she said she was hungry. I was so excited she was hungry, I was ready to go get her food. A day later, she got this bump on her eyelid near her nose. I made an appointment with her pediatrician. I took her in on Monday. By then it was a bright red bump on the outside of her eyelid. Her doctor said it was a sty and told us how to take care of it. We went home and took care of it. By Thursday, the bump was huge. Her eyelid was mostly closed. She still only slept all day and barely ate. I took pictures of it and started asking my friends and family if I should take her back to the ER. Everybody said yes. I decided to wait until the morning. Friday morning, the bump started to look extremely weird, like it might ooze something...or you could pop it...or it might explode. So I took her to the ER. They saw her fairly quickly. The doctor said, "If this is a sty, then it's the biggest one I've ever seen." Then he proceeded to put a needle in the bump and pull out a bunch of puss...quite disgusting...and cool. At this point they had already started her on fluids and antibiotics. They decided that they didn't have the equipment and stuff to take care of her if it ended up being worse. They wanted to send her to Children's Hospital, but she would have to go by ambulance because of the IV. I had called my mom, and she met us at the hospital and was there for most of this. I had to call my boy to come get my car because I was going in the ambulance. The EMTs met my girl, talked to her, and made her feel comfortable. Then we got to go for a ride! Because of the antibiotics and fluids, she was feeling decent. So we got to enjoy the ride together. The ambulance dropped us off at the ER at Children's. My mom met us there. After awhile they decided to put a warmer on her eye because it had gotten big again. All of a sudden, it started oozing like crazy. It was so gross and so cool. Anyway she had a CT scan and ended up in the ICU. It was crazy in there, but the nurses were awesome. I got to sleep on a chair that converted to a bed. This was all on July 3rd. For the 4th of July, my girl got to have brain surgery. This part is traumatic for me. I can tell you what they did technically, but when I think about it happening to my girl...I just want to whimper. My mom and my in-laws were there in the waiting room for me. We got the best of the best neuro surgeon to do this surgery! It just happened that way. He talked to me, explained what he was going to do, explained that he realized that she would have to grow up with this scar...so he would make the incision behind her hair line...so it wouldn't show. Wow! What a kind doctor. I did fine waiting until the 3 hour time frame was up. Then I just started pacing. The doctor came out and told us everything went well, but there was much more infection than they originally thought. She would have to have another surgery. This one wouldn't be quite as invasive though. After recovery (where she sassed me immediately...and I wanted to hi-five the nurses), she went back up to ICU. She spent another night there. The next day they realized she was quite perky for someone who had just had brain surgery, so they sent us to the 5th floor...where we got the window side! That's where we stayed on Sunday. On Monday, it was time for surgery number 2. They were going to go through her nose...yuck...and also put a PICC line in for her medicines. This one was longer. She came out of it like she had only taken a nap. Although the morphine made her a bit groggy. Then begins the monotonous days of just hanging out in the hospital...getting a new roommate every few days...some good...some not so good... She laughed, ate, and became the girl I was used to. They tried to send us home once, but her infection number went back up. Then our doctors, who loved us, snuck a blood test in. Her number went down! They sent us home.

Now we are home. Julia still has to have IV antibiotics twice a day...and I get to give it to her. She has to take saline 3 times a day in her nose and flonase once a day. However, as of today, we have been cleared by the ENT doctor. He put a camera up her nose and told us that she didn't have scar tissue in the sinuses! So now, no more flonase!!! and only the saline spray once a day for a few weeks...and the IV antibiotics. Wednesday, she has another MRI, and from there we will see what they say about an ending date.

So, moral of the story...we missed out on an entire summer vacation, 3 concerts, Disneyland, family trip, my Grandpa's 90th birthday party, etc....but we got a girl who is alive and doesn't have brain damage. Easy to choose joy with that outcome. We are also going to choose joy by still having a summer vacation later...we are trying to go to a One Direction concert if she gets cleared by all the doctors in time...two doctors have cleared her...two to go...choosing joy...thinking positively...                                             JOY