Life as a Leach

I love this boy and his love for golf, Star Wars, fencing, Legos, history, and books.  He is one in a billion!  Have a great first full week of school, Bubs!

I took some props with us when we went for our family pictures.  I am so glad I did!  I love the way these sweet tea set pictures turned out.  The tea set was a special gift from Abby's Nina, so I'm happy to have it in some of our pictures.

Just 100 more days until Abby's magical trip to Disney World!  Elsa, here she comes!!   Abby's Grammy made her this beautiful dress, so of course we wanted to get pictures of Queen Elsa in her gown!

This guy started school yesterday and is now officially a 3rd grader!  I don't know how this happened, since I'm only 22, but... :)  He had a great day, and he is very happy to have some good friends in his class.  He also really enjoyed getting to know his teacher.  The highlight?  Finding out that he could check TWO books out at a time from the library!  Woo hoo!!  :) To recap the summer a bit and say goodbye to sleeping in...oh wait, wrong house...I thought I'd share the highlights! Caleb went to three day camps this summer.  First, attended space camp at our local community college and was really intrigued by all he learned.  Then, he went to a wonderful theater and music camp held at our church.  It was amazing how much those kids learned in just a week!  At the end of the summer, he attended a fencing camp run by one of his fencing instructors.  All fencing, all day!  It doesn't sound very interesting...

It is sooo hard for me to find time to blog again after we get home from a hospital stay!  I have so much to do with the house, Abby needs extra care, we are going to appointments, I'm making up for lost time with Caleb, work has started up again...my mind is racing! Thank you all for checking in on us and asking about Abby.  She is doing well.  Recovery is a little slower this time, and she is still needing medicine most every day.  The VEPTR pushed one rib out really far, so Dr. C. had to break it and refit it.  That spot has been very painful for Abby and is sensitive to even the slightest touch.  Imagine the pain she had yesterday when a dog (not one we knew) suddenly jumped on her and knocked her down!  It was an Oxy night for sure last night. She's pretty much back to eat the way she was before surgery now, although we are still doing a gtube feed at night for extra calories.  I'm hoping to be able to wean that soon as she eats a little ...

So after a great day yesterday, Abby had a lot of pain last night and today.  She was up almost every hour and really hurting.  We decided to stay another day to make sure her pain was under control.  It was better this afternoon, but she kept complaining of this one spot.  After mentioning it to Dr. C., he said that's where he had to do a lot of work breaking and manipulating the ribs.  (Ouch!!!). My poor, sweet girl!  No wonder it hurts there.   I'm not going to say I think we will go home tomorrow this time!  Let's not jinx it again!  I'll just let you know when we are actually leaving!  Lol!  

So after a rotten day yesterday, Abby decided that she would turn things around!  She slept all night without oxygen and did great today.  Her repeat X-ray to check the fluid in her pleural cavity was much better (even without a chest tube!  Lol!) and she was in a generally happier mood.  She was a nasty little thing yesterday!   She's still not eating great,, but she has tolerated all of her feeds so far, so that's good.  I'm hoping we will go home tomorrow or Tuesday. Major shout out to my parents, who have been up here all weekend!  Today, I got a nap AND a walk outside of the hospital while they stayed with her!  I think Abby enjoys having someone other than me there as well. :) Thanks for your prayers!