We Have a Plan!

Macy is improving, and we have some plans put into place!  She seemed better quickly, however by Wednesday she seemed to have a little lung involvement. We headed to see her doctor on Thursday.  They said she was moving air okay, but was very junky.  They started her on an antibiotic to help keep her lungs clear and avoid pneumonia.  We also increased nebulizer treatments to help.  She'll be finished with that by Monday, and will be done on Saturday with the Tamiflu. We head by to the doctor's office on Friday, March 29th for a pre-op visit.  Why pre-op?  Because her surgeries have been rescheduled for April 1st and April 3rd.

We are extremely blessed that we could reschedule so soon, especially because Dr. Superina is a very busy, important man.  Waiting too much longer would put Macy at risk again of another esophageal rupture.  We want to avoid that, and more banding procedures since they only band-aid the problem.  The only unfortunate part of this new schedule is that Macy will miss 2 weeks of school, and I will miss 2 weeks of work.  Fortunately when my students return from spring break, they will see a familiar face.  One of my dear friends, and former co-worker who retired 2 years ago is taking my class for those 2 weeks.  She has subbed for me before, and they are going to be in the very best hands!  I am so thankful for her offer to take my kiddos!  Something else that makes this extra special is that she was Macy's kindergarten teacher!

We are not sure what this means yet for Macy school-wise.  We have always been fortunate enough to schedule most surgeries and procedures when school is on break.  This year has been an exception.  She has already missed 12 days of school.   This is by far the most she has ever missed!  Only 1 of them was due to an illness rather than a surgery/recovery from surgery.  These next 10 will make over 20.  It makes me so upset just thinking about it.  We pride ourselves on good school attendance even through all of the craziness.  Which BTW, McKenna has perfect attendance this year so far!  I am hoping that my mom can head over to the middle school at the end of the first week, pick up her Week 1 and Week 2 work, and bring it to Macy when she comes up to see us. I can guarantee that Macy won't feel up to work the first week, but she might the 2nd week.       

Speaking of my mom.........the flu claimed her as well.  She started feeling pretty crappy on Tuesday.  She's back in sunny Florida now, so let's hope it helps her start to feel better soon.  Being the AMAZING mother/grandma that she is, she will be back to help out next weekend.  She flies in on March 30th.  We are unbelievably blessed to have all of her love and support, as well as my dad's for letting her leave so much.  I don't know what we would do without them!

Continue to pray for clear lungs, and 100% overall health for Macy as soon as possible!  Pray for my mom to recover from the flu as well!  Pray for a calm, relaxing week ahead of us while we put Macy in a bubble to keep her healthy!  Thank you so much for all of your constant kind words, prayers, and love for our family!

Isn't That Just How It Goes.........

I don't even know what to say anymore about how things happen for us.  I'm trying to think positively about what transpired today.  However, so much planning and prep went into this surgery.  Not only did we plan with all the items we packed and took (clothes, blankets, hospital needs, food, etc), but we planned and prepped mentally and emotionally for it.  We were ready.  However, my positive thinking (that I am trying to hard to have right now) leads me to the thoughts of "God always has a plan", "Things happen for a reason", "It wasn't meant to happen today", "She was going to get sick, and God just wanted us to catch it BEFORE surgery".  I am okay with this, but all of that emotional build up, and the let down has been equally exhausting. 

For those of you that don't know, Macy did not have surgery today.  It has been postponed, and we don't have a date yet for when it will be rescheduled.  We left Indy in early afternoon yesterday and arrived in Chicago around 4.  We unpacked, took the car to the hospital, filled our cabinets and fridge in the kitchen area with all of our food, and unpacked and organized all of our clothes and personal items.  Macy started with a few sniffles while we did this.  Mild, little sniffles.  Then some coughing started accompanying the sniffles.  As the evening progressed, she was pretty junky sounding.  I gave her a couple of puffs from her rescue inhaler before bed.  She was up all night.  The mucus got to be so bad, it would sit while she slept, and then she would start coughing and choking on it.  At one point, I was positive she had a fever.  However, we had no thermometer because our kid was healthy at noon, and we would be inpatient starting Monday morning for 2 weeks.  No need, right?!?!  Wrong!!!  She was a mess when we got up, but we headed to the hospital anyway. 

What transpired next was multiple nurses checking on her, her anesthesiologist checking her out, and the doctor performing the venogram came in to get a listen and look.  Dr. Superina had just scrubbed into a big surgery, but they contacted him anyway.  After I told them that I was not okay proceeding with anything, while staring at my poor sick girl with a 102* fever, Dr. Superina agreed.  However, we were then sent to the ER because no one, including us, felt okay about her going back to Indy like that.  Following labs, a strep test, RSV test, and Influenza A, B, & C tests, it was confirmed Influenza A.  They started her immediately on Tamiflu.  We left, headed back to The Ronald McDonald House, packed up all of the things we had just unpacked the night before, and headed home to Indy. 

We've been in contact with Dr. Superina's office, and might know more tomorrow about a plan for rescheduling.  It will all depend on Macy's health and Dr. Superina's schedule.  Unfortunately, I don't think this surgery can wait until summer break, so that means Macy and I will both miss some school.  Never ideal, but her health is the most important thing!  We will do what we need to do, and I want her to be 100% healthy when we go into this surgery.  So, am I disappointed?  Yes!  However, I am feeling blessed that we know what she has going on, and we found out when we did.  Our current goal is to get this chick healthy!!!  Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers!  The LOVE we feel from all of you is AMAZING!!!! 

A Bittersweet Spring Break

We ended our 3rd quarter of school, and have officially started spring break!  It's always a great feeling, but this break is very bittersweet.  We are super excited for a break from work and school, however we are going on NO vacation.  The last couple of weeks have been a little rough for all of us, especially Macy.  She has been through a lot of emotions.  She's had sadness, fear, jealousy, and anger.  She seems now at the point of acceptance, and just wants to get this over with as soon as possible.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.....I cannot imagine going through all of this as a 13 year old.  To see how well she has managed all of this overall it quite amazing!

Over the last couple of weeks we have had so much support.  My coworkers, sports families, neighbors, friends, family, and Macy's teachers have offered so many kind words, cards of encouragement, gift cards for food and parking, offers to help with our zoo of pets, and so many prayers.  My brother has listened to me talk about my fears and concerns, and always gives me so much great advice.  My mom flew here with a one way ticket to be with McKenna and support all of us as needed. We can't ask for better family and friends!  We are truly blessed!!!

Macy's first surgery is Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. It should take a couple of hours.  We will then be inpatient until they take her on Wednesday for the big surgery.  I hope to know more about the big surgery as we get closer to the day.   I may not be answering texts as much as I'd like, but I will try to update the blog every evening.  Please pray for two successful surgeries for Macy.  Pray for wisdom and steady hands of Macy's surgeons.  Please pray for a speedy recovery.  Pray for McKenna's sweet heart, and to calm her worries about her sister and parents.  Please pray for me and Jeremy to have calm minds, and the ability to support Macy the best we can. 

Thank you for checking in on us, and thank you for your continued prayers!  We will keep you posted!