This swine flu is a doozy.....It WILL NOT leave my house!!!!
The school called to pick up Josiah yesterday (I told him to try a half day). He didn't make it that long. He had gone to the nurse because he felt sick to his stomach and was just wiped out. Literally 30 seconds later, Hannah's school called and said she was having seizure activity all morning and it finally broke through. Blitzen had alerted twice. It was really affecting her academic skills. She couldn't remember how to subtract 7-4. This is something she usually breezes through. It was like that all morning apparently. When I got to the school, she was crying and just kept saying, "I'm so tired, I'm so tired...." She just wanted to go home and sleep. And she did. Her body is working so hard to fight the flu. I am praying she doesn't get it. Viruses are so hard on her body in the form of tonic clonic seizures. So far, we are good in that department.... BUT.....
Hannah did stay home from school today. She woke up feeling like she hadn't even gone to bed. AND she had a sore throat. She still does not have a fever, but I am not pushing it. So, all three kids were home from school today. (party, anyone???.....not hardly)..... The boys re -developed fevers last night and Josiah's continues today. I decided to call the pediatrician (just to make me feel better). I am so worried about them developing pneumonia. I know....I will know when they are getting sicker, I just don't like this fever that keeps popping up. So, along with the rest of the county, I waited..........and waited...........35 minutes on hold to talk with the nurse. I told her everything I could about the newest symptoms (after all THEY are the ones who told me to call with any changes). The nurse, who I am sure hates her job at this point in the season, told me...."yes, the swine flu can last up to 2 weeks and the fever will come and go." "As long as the fever doesn't get too high or you see dramatic changes in them, just let it run its course...." She didn't tell me anything new, but somehow I still felt better. I said "Okay, " felt a little foolish and started pushing fluids for the day.....
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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Beautiful Hannah...
How this journey started....
Hannah was born prematurely at 34 weeks gestation. She was a relatively healthy preemie; initially having difficulty maintaining body temperature and needing to grow. She weighed 4 pounds 9 ounces at birth. When she was four months old she began to drool, non stop. We were told the first year she was "teething." At 18 months old, we really started searching for reasons of why her shirt was always soaking wet. We saw various specialists who always sent us to another specialist, saying "everything looks okay." She spent years in oral motor/feeding therapy to help her not to drool. It wasn't until she was four years old and in preschool that we started to get some answers. Her preschool teacher commented one day that she wasn't reponding when her name was called. I took this information to her pediatrician who then orderd an EEG, "just to rule it out." Much to our shock and amazement, the results showed, she was having seizures. That is the day our journey REALLY began. Once she began taking seizure medication the drooling almost stopped completely. (She will still drool to this day when she is having seizure activity). Since then, it has been a roller coaster; countless medications and medication changes. She has never really reponded well to any medication.
About two years after she was diagnosed with epilepsy, the doctors noticed that her blood pressure was running high. After many tests, she was diagnosed with hypertension. We still are not sure why, but her cardiologist feels her blood vessels are thicker than normal.
About this same time, we also began looking into why Hannah was such a horrible sleeper. She would thrash, talk, move every which way, during her sleep. The sleep studies revealed that she has alveolar hypoventilation sydrome, which means she has too much carbon dioxide in her system when she sleeps. To help this, she wears a BI-PAP at night. This has been monumental in giving her more effective and quality of sleep.
Every day is a challenge for Hannah and our family as a whole. Blitzen has been an absolutely wonderful addition. She calms herself sometimes just by petting and loving on him. He has been trained in behavior disruptions and will sometimes be able to stop a meltdown from getting out of control.
It has been extra hard on the whole family since daddy is deployed to Iraq. He has been gone since January 09 and will gone until Jan 2010. We get to talk with him by phone and on the web cam; which is nice, but not the same!! Blitzen has helped to make his absence go just a little smoother....
About two years after she was diagnosed with epilepsy, the doctors noticed that her blood pressure was running high. After many tests, she was diagnosed with hypertension. We still are not sure why, but her cardiologist feels her blood vessels are thicker than normal.
About this same time, we also began looking into why Hannah was such a horrible sleeper. She would thrash, talk, move every which way, during her sleep. The sleep studies revealed that she has alveolar hypoventilation sydrome, which means she has too much carbon dioxide in her system when she sleeps. To help this, she wears a BI-PAP at night. This has been monumental in giving her more effective and quality of sleep.
Every day is a challenge for Hannah and our family as a whole. Blitzen has been an absolutely wonderful addition. She calms herself sometimes just by petting and loving on him. He has been trained in behavior disruptions and will sometimes be able to stop a meltdown from getting out of control.
It has been extra hard on the whole family since daddy is deployed to Iraq. He has been gone since January 09 and will gone until Jan 2010. We get to talk with him by phone and on the web cam; which is nice, but not the same!! Blitzen has helped to make his absence go just a little smoother....
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