Some time ago I blogged about how we were going to try the Paleo diet for Casey... I was going to try limiting carbs on myself as well. Although I do still eat a sandwich every day for lunch but that's because I don't care for the sliced turkey without bread. I might try to phase that out over the next couple of weeks.
Anyway, of course the first week we had the diet in full swing and Casey loses 10lbs in 1 week! That's so annoying! Here I've been dieting and working my butt of with workouts most days and I lost ALMOST 10lbs in a month and a half! Although I know that's GREAT so I'm not complaining too much.
Not only has Casey lost that weight but he's trimming up quickly too! Sun he went to put on a pair of shorts and they were so big on him when he pulled them up and fastened them as soon as he let go they fell all the way off! Was kinda funny, he's going to have to go clothes shopping again soon.
We've hit some pretty good milestones with this trying to eat better. Casey is feeling better (although still has a bit of infection in his lungs... We find out tomorrow if its gone) and losing the weight and inches. We really think the Carbs had a LOT to do with it. Lately he'd been complaining about how barrel chested he'd gotten and that has slimmed back down. He jokes he no longer needs a bra. Haha While I'm not hitting the huge weight loss numbers yet I expect too soon. My body is changing more then anything, I'm building muscle where fat was and clothes are fitting looser on me as well. One of the greatest things I've noticed I actually noticed today that my butt is smaller and tighter and yes I think even got a little butt lift going! See there is a swing at the park I take the kids to that I haven't been able to fit in very comfortably. It was kinda high and tight so made it hard to get my short fat butt up there. Well today I tried it and for the first time fit! I noticed that instead of it hanging a little higher then my butt was now it comes just to the bottom of my butt and its not tight at all! I actually enjoyed swinging.... For about half a minute before Eli took off running giggling and I had to chase him down! LOL Which is a nice additional workout! Ha
One of the big milestones I've hit has been the ability to jog! I take the kids for a walk/jog and I start out walking... Then I jog for a bit, then walk. Eli thinks its great fun going "faster" and giggles while I'm jogging. Its great motivation! Today I did a mile in right around 15min! My best time yet! The park is actually right across the street. But I walk around to the bridge on one side to cross the creek. The route I take to get there is half mile one way. So I come back that way to make it a full mile, so we walk/jog there. Play and then come back home. Mommy is becoming a much more active play person at the park which I love and I know Eli LOVES as well. In a few days I'll be taking my monthly pictures to see how my body has changed. I'm both excited and nervous about that!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Prayer is an amazing thing!
Casey just called me, the Dr was in to see him today and said they are going to discharge him. Yay!
They said they are pretty sure it was pneumonia, they said with as quickly as he started recovering once he was on the IV antibiotics was a sure sign of that. He said it even sounds like they aren't going to mess with doing the CT scan on Monday (tomorrow) and they have said they aren't going to do the biopsy anymore. He is to followup with his PCP either Thurs or Friday and followup with the lung Dr in 10 days. If all goes well then he should be released to go back to work.
He said last night he coughed up a lot of gunk and the nurse this morning when she was listening to his lungs said he sounded much more clear this morning.
I am so excited to be having him coming home today, today has been kinda rough on me. I haven't been able to get a sitter to come to our house and there has just been some general drama. So glad to have him coming home! He was getting so bored at the hospital and about to go out of his mind I'm sure. The great thing is we'll have Daddy home all week and he will be under Dr's orders to RELAX so that means no projects for him to work on! We just will get to spend time with him! That will be a great blessing to us all! We have missed Daddy a lot!
They said they are pretty sure it was pneumonia, they said with as quickly as he started recovering once he was on the IV antibiotics was a sure sign of that. He said it even sounds like they aren't going to mess with doing the CT scan on Monday (tomorrow) and they have said they aren't going to do the biopsy anymore. He is to followup with his PCP either Thurs or Friday and followup with the lung Dr in 10 days. If all goes well then he should be released to go back to work.
He said last night he coughed up a lot of gunk and the nurse this morning when she was listening to his lungs said he sounded much more clear this morning.
I am so excited to be having him coming home today, today has been kinda rough on me. I haven't been able to get a sitter to come to our house and there has just been some general drama. So glad to have him coming home! He was getting so bored at the hospital and about to go out of his mind I'm sure. The great thing is we'll have Daddy home all week and he will be under Dr's orders to RELAX so that means no projects for him to work on! We just will get to spend time with him! That will be a great blessing to us all! We have missed Daddy a lot!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Short & Sweet
We had someone from Church come over today to watch the kids so I could go visit Casey for a bit. It was nice to be there for a couple of hours. Pastor Lightcap came to pray with us and get up to date on the whole story. Both kids did amazing with the sitter who they haven't really met other then in passing at church a few times. I'm so proud of my amazing kids. Really I have been so blessed.
Today Casey said he was feeling better, hasn't had any morphine for the pain which is great news. He has still been running a bit of a fever off and on. He looked a little pale today and said he thought he was running a slight fever. He was, it was 99.6. We chatted for a bit, he said he's been coughing more and coughing up some mucus. Pastor came in and talked to us and prayed over Casey and rebuked the illness and told it to leave his body. We have faith that God is in control and if its his will the illness will depart as instructed.
After Pastor left I told Casey I missed snuggling and told him to scoot over as I crawled into bed with him for a few minutes of snuggle time. The nurse came in and disconnected his IV fluids, said the Dr said he could be off it as long as he would drink enough to stay hydrated. I asked her about the results of his urine test as well as the test they were running off the mucus he coughed up. She said she would need to refresh her memory but nothing stood out at her that would make her call the Dr. She said she didn't think the mucus culture had grown anything. She mentioned his Pneumonia and I asked if that was the official diagnoses and she said she wasn't 100% sure but thought they were leaning towards that. She said that if he can stay hydrated on his own and keep the fevers down and pain under control he'll be able to come home tomorrow. Then Mon he'll have another CT scan and if the mass is gone or significantly smaller then we will continue treatment, if not then he'll have a procedure on Weds where they go in with a camera through his mouth to get a biopsy of the mass. Hoping the CT scan shows the mas is gone or smaller.
As I was laying there snuggling with Casey watching a movie on TV the MA came in to take his vitals and said she was sorry for interrupting snuggle time and how cute we were together. Haha Yeah we get that a lot.
Anyway, so that's today's update. Tonight I hope to take the kids to see him again and then hopefully tomorrow he will come home!
Today Casey said he was feeling better, hasn't had any morphine for the pain which is great news. He has still been running a bit of a fever off and on. He looked a little pale today and said he thought he was running a slight fever. He was, it was 99.6. We chatted for a bit, he said he's been coughing more and coughing up some mucus. Pastor came in and talked to us and prayed over Casey and rebuked the illness and told it to leave his body. We have faith that God is in control and if its his will the illness will depart as instructed.
After Pastor left I told Casey I missed snuggling and told him to scoot over as I crawled into bed with him for a few minutes of snuggle time. The nurse came in and disconnected his IV fluids, said the Dr said he could be off it as long as he would drink enough to stay hydrated. I asked her about the results of his urine test as well as the test they were running off the mucus he coughed up. She said she would need to refresh her memory but nothing stood out at her that would make her call the Dr. She said she didn't think the mucus culture had grown anything. She mentioned his Pneumonia and I asked if that was the official diagnoses and she said she wasn't 100% sure but thought they were leaning towards that. She said that if he can stay hydrated on his own and keep the fevers down and pain under control he'll be able to come home tomorrow. Then Mon he'll have another CT scan and if the mass is gone or significantly smaller then we will continue treatment, if not then he'll have a procedure on Weds where they go in with a camera through his mouth to get a biopsy of the mass. Hoping the CT scan shows the mas is gone or smaller.
As I was laying there snuggling with Casey watching a movie on TV the MA came in to take his vitals and said she was sorry for interrupting snuggle time and how cute we were together. Haha Yeah we get that a lot.
Anyway, so that's today's update. Tonight I hope to take the kids to see him again and then hopefully tomorrow he will come home!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Its the thought that counts right?
Today I got permission from the hospital to bring the kids to visit Casey. When I talked to his nurse on the phone I told her how the kids are really missing him. Especially the 2yr old, he's noticed big time Daddy's not here and has cried for Daddy a few times (so heart breaking).
Since I got the go ahead to bring them I thought it would be nice to let Eli "help" me make some cookies for Daddy. As I was getting started I tried to set everything out I needed ahead of time. Clearly I didn't get everything and the following story is quite funny I must admit.
I noticed as I got the sugar out of the cabinet that there was hardly any there. The recipe I was using called for 1 cup. It was going to be close, I poured it into a measuring cup. Ugh just a little over 1/2 cup, SO CLOSE! So I think to myself "Self how do we want to handle this?" I answer "well if I were you I would suggest cutting the recipe in half" "But you see self, whenever I do that I tend to forget on a couple of ingredients that I'm cutting it in half and end up making the whole batch." "Well then, I would suggest you see if you can find a sub for sugar." So I call my Aunt and get her advice, "Do you have powder sugar?" (Self goes and checks) "Yes I have 3 bags of it (don't ask)". She suggested trying that since its just really finely ground up sugar anyway. So I top off the cup with powder sugar. I mix the butter and sugar and go to get the eggs. "Well darn self! We're out of eggs!" "Well then, self would suggest we look up an egg less recipe for said cookies". I'm really starting to feel like split personalities. I follow my suggestion and find a recipe online for egg less choc chip cookies. But it requires less sugar then I originally needed. SO I consider starting over when I realized, I had no more sugar. So I decide to just take what it suggests you use instead of eggs which was 1/2 cup of oil and I continue. I am letting Eli help me so he is dumping the stuff into the bowl for me. We add the vanilla and stir it all up, then I start adding the dry stuff.... Flour.... Salt.....Baking soda......... Umm baking soda..... You have GOT to be kidding me! No baking soda? So I think for a minute, well what could happen if I don't use baking soda? I ruin the batch its probably already ruined at it is. So I says to myself again "Self, what should we use instead of baking soda?" I answer myself "Well since baking soda has a salty taste to it I would imagine maybe a tad bit more flour and maybe just a pinch more salt would work" "Brilliant!" "Why thank you I think so too!" After congratulating myself on such a clever idea I add the extras and pour it into the mixer. Eli likes watching the mixer mix, after its all mixed in I lift the kitchenaid blade up and pull a chunk of dough off the blade and take a test. Its a tad wet still and salty... So Maybe add just a smidge more flour. If you are wondering what a smidge is well its more then a pinch but less then an 1/8 cup. So I add it and mix it up, now it has the right consistency altho fluffy and a little more crumbly. Eli follows my example and takes a taste and goes "Mmmmmm! Mmmmmm" Ha.
So we scoop it onto cookie sheets and I stick it in the oven. At first they weren't melting down like most do so I thought they weren't going to flatten out at all. So the next pan I mush them down a little. Finally the first batch is um done. Well kinda, yes and no. You see the edges got brown and crunchy but the middles didn't cook. It also had a really grainy texture. I finally admitted defeat and trashed the cookies. The remaining dough is in the fridge to be consumed raw later when I'm feeling lonely and missing my hubby.
Ok so now that you got an entertaining story I'll give a quick update on the hubs. After all these were for him who is sick and laying in a hospital bed.
I take the kids to see him, we pull up and I already have a plan, I'm going to hook Eli's little leash that goes to his back pack puppy (one of those kids harnesses/leash things) to his overalls straps so I don't have to mess with the whole back pack thing. I put Willa in our little stroller and Eli on his leash. The little umbrella stroller is the perfect size for Eli to be able to push. Plus its small and doesn't take up a lot of space. I let Eli push the stroller and I hold one handle to help steer while holding on to his leash to keep everything going smoothly. We get inside and the volunteers sitting up front about fall over themselves about how cute both kids and what a great big brother Eli is. We go upstairs and make our way to Casey's room. People in the elevator are "awwwing" over both kids whose both cheesing at them big time.
Both kids enjoyed some much needed (over 2hrs) of Daddy time. You can tell Daddy really enjoyed them too!
Casey tells me he's feeling a little better, he ate dinner but he was getting hungry again (a good sign). The nurse comes in and talks to us about stuff. Casey had finally coughed up a good mucus wad for them to take and have a culture run on. Seriously I thought I heard some cheering going on when I was still at the house. That must have been it.
I ask the nurse if they are hoping to discharge him this weekend or was that just his wishful thinking (in nicer words of course) she said they are hoping to discharge him if they can get his pain under control and if they can get him to stop spiking a fever. Casey tells her he's only had 1 dose of morphine for the day and he'll probably just let her give him another tonight to help him sleep. However he has had other pain meds too, hopefully tomorrow it will be better.
So he was looking a lot better and talking a lot, his mom came to visit him while we were there and everything was nice and drama free. She brought some goodies for the kids, some mum-mums (little rice things for babies to chew on that both kids LOVE) and some toddler snacks and baby snacks.
After over 2hrs we headed home, Grandma parked next to us so we all walked out together and she helped get the kiddo's in the car.
Both kids are now sound asleep and hopefully I will join them soon!
Thanks for the prayers they have been felt a great deal during this time.
Since I got the go ahead to bring them I thought it would be nice to let Eli "help" me make some cookies for Daddy. As I was getting started I tried to set everything out I needed ahead of time. Clearly I didn't get everything and the following story is quite funny I must admit.
I noticed as I got the sugar out of the cabinet that there was hardly any there. The recipe I was using called for 1 cup. It was going to be close, I poured it into a measuring cup. Ugh just a little over 1/2 cup, SO CLOSE! So I think to myself "Self how do we want to handle this?" I answer "well if I were you I would suggest cutting the recipe in half" "But you see self, whenever I do that I tend to forget on a couple of ingredients that I'm cutting it in half and end up making the whole batch." "Well then, I would suggest you see if you can find a sub for sugar." So I call my Aunt and get her advice, "Do you have powder sugar?" (Self goes and checks) "Yes I have 3 bags of it (don't ask)". She suggested trying that since its just really finely ground up sugar anyway. So I top off the cup with powder sugar. I mix the butter and sugar and go to get the eggs. "Well darn self! We're out of eggs!" "Well then, self would suggest we look up an egg less recipe for said cookies". I'm really starting to feel like split personalities. I follow my suggestion and find a recipe online for egg less choc chip cookies. But it requires less sugar then I originally needed. SO I consider starting over when I realized, I had no more sugar. So I decide to just take what it suggests you use instead of eggs which was 1/2 cup of oil and I continue. I am letting Eli help me so he is dumping the stuff into the bowl for me. We add the vanilla and stir it all up, then I start adding the dry stuff.... Flour.... Salt.....Baking soda......... Umm baking soda..... You have GOT to be kidding me! No baking soda? So I think for a minute, well what could happen if I don't use baking soda? I ruin the batch its probably already ruined at it is. So I says to myself again "Self, what should we use instead of baking soda?" I answer myself "Well since baking soda has a salty taste to it I would imagine maybe a tad bit more flour and maybe just a pinch more salt would work" "Brilliant!" "Why thank you I think so too!" After congratulating myself on such a clever idea I add the extras and pour it into the mixer. Eli likes watching the mixer mix, after its all mixed in I lift the kitchenaid blade up and pull a chunk of dough off the blade and take a test. Its a tad wet still and salty... So Maybe add just a smidge more flour. If you are wondering what a smidge is well its more then a pinch but less then an 1/8 cup. So I add it and mix it up, now it has the right consistency altho fluffy and a little more crumbly. Eli follows my example and takes a taste and goes "Mmmmmm! Mmmmmm" Ha.
So we scoop it onto cookie sheets and I stick it in the oven. At first they weren't melting down like most do so I thought they weren't going to flatten out at all. So the next pan I mush them down a little. Finally the first batch is um done. Well kinda, yes and no. You see the edges got brown and crunchy but the middles didn't cook. It also had a really grainy texture. I finally admitted defeat and trashed the cookies. The remaining dough is in the fridge to be consumed raw later when I'm feeling lonely and missing my hubby.
Ok so now that you got an entertaining story I'll give a quick update on the hubs. After all these were for him who is sick and laying in a hospital bed.
I take the kids to see him, we pull up and I already have a plan, I'm going to hook Eli's little leash that goes to his back pack puppy (one of those kids harnesses/leash things) to his overalls straps so I don't have to mess with the whole back pack thing. I put Willa in our little stroller and Eli on his leash. The little umbrella stroller is the perfect size for Eli to be able to push. Plus its small and doesn't take up a lot of space. I let Eli push the stroller and I hold one handle to help steer while holding on to his leash to keep everything going smoothly. We get inside and the volunteers sitting up front about fall over themselves about how cute both kids and what a great big brother Eli is. We go upstairs and make our way to Casey's room. People in the elevator are "awwwing" over both kids whose both cheesing at them big time.
Both kids enjoyed some much needed (over 2hrs) of Daddy time. You can tell Daddy really enjoyed them too!
Casey tells me he's feeling a little better, he ate dinner but he was getting hungry again (a good sign). The nurse comes in and talks to us about stuff. Casey had finally coughed up a good mucus wad for them to take and have a culture run on. Seriously I thought I heard some cheering going on when I was still at the house. That must have been it.
I ask the nurse if they are hoping to discharge him this weekend or was that just his wishful thinking (in nicer words of course) she said they are hoping to discharge him if they can get his pain under control and if they can get him to stop spiking a fever. Casey tells her he's only had 1 dose of morphine for the day and he'll probably just let her give him another tonight to help him sleep. However he has had other pain meds too, hopefully tomorrow it will be better.
So he was looking a lot better and talking a lot, his mom came to visit him while we were there and everything was nice and drama free. She brought some goodies for the kids, some mum-mums (little rice things for babies to chew on that both kids LOVE) and some toddler snacks and baby snacks.
After over 2hrs we headed home, Grandma parked next to us so we all walked out together and she helped get the kiddo's in the car.
Both kids are now sound asleep and hopefully I will join them soon!
Thanks for the prayers they have been felt a great deal during this time.
Update on Casey
This morning I called the hospital at 6am to check in on Casey. I didn't want to wake him if he was sleeping but I was up feeding the baby and thought I'd check in. They said he slept decently for being the first night in the hospital and them having to go in and check on him every couple of hours. They said he still hasn't been able to cough up any mucus for them to run a culture on (my thoughts are that's not a good sign). She said he ran a fever again and they had to give him some meds for that.
This morning Casey texted me that he was awake and eating. Sadly I was so exhausted I didn't even look at the phone till about an hour later. I knew he was in a safe place though, I called him and he said that he feels a tad better. Still having severe pain and they are having to give him morphine every 4 to 6hrs. He was able to keep down breakfast which was good.
A little bit later he called and said that the lung Dr had just been there. Yes I know what they are called, no I can't spell it so I'm not even going to try. LOL
He said that the Dr told him that there is a mass either next to his lungs or IN his lungs (they can't tell) he said that it has an unusual shape to it. This Dr is thinking that maybe its some sort of fungal infection, last night I had actually been thinking about how we need to make sure and let them know that he IS an electrician and that he has been working on some older houses lately and been in some rather old attics. The Dr said as far as asbestos is concerned it would be unlikely because he's not old enough to show that kind of damage yet if that was an issue. They said the attic thing though could be something, especially if its an old house that has had problems with bats in the past. Their poo can cause a fungal infection of this sort, they also be caused by Radon. So hoping THATS not it. They said if it comes back that way then we need to have our basement checked and probably all of us. The argument with that theory is that you would think the rest of us would be equally sick. However (while I'm not trying to say I think its the case) the kids and Casey have all been sick a lot lately. Me personally either I haven't been or I have been ignoring it or not noticing it due to dealing with everyone else. I have been telling Casey for the past week that I am just tired of everyone being sick and it seems to be an endless cycle. Just as I think we're all on the mend someone else gets sick. Willa is currently on meds for what is thought to be either strep or an ear infection. Both looked red on Monday at her Dr's appointment. So that thought scares me a little.
Also the Dr said this could all be related from when Casey was sick with bronchitis back in Jan (which I have said I don't think he ever fully recovered and I thought it was pneumonia from the get go). Also said it could be connected to the fact that Casey fell off a ladder around Oct. While he went to the Dr they didn't do x-rays but now they are wondering if that caused more damage then they had thought originally.
So the Dr told Casey that he wants to do a urine test for the fungus. He said on Mon he will have Casey do another CT scan. Casey is interpreting the way he said it as he is going to let him leave the hospital this weekend and have him come back for the CT scan. I don't think that's it I think the Dr just meant come back to radiology. But we'll see I guess, if the CT shows that the mass is smaller and making improvement they will continue the course they are on. If not then the Dr will do a procedure where they take a camera down his throat and biopsy the mass and lymph nodes around it and possibly even remove the mass or most of it at that time. So we'll see what happens over the next few day, it sounds like at this time that Dr doesn't think its pneumonia but he also told Casey that Cancer is highly unlikely at Casey's age. So I guess now we're praying for a fungal infection that is caused by working in older houses and NOT OUR house.
Casey also told me when I was there today that he had to take a potassium pill because his was low due to not being able to eat or keep anything down yesterday. Last night they had him on IV fluids to help with hydration. Today they took it down to just half of what they were giving him which is good.
Please continue to pray for things between my mother in law and myself. I don't want to make her sound like a bad person because she's not, she's a wonderful person but in times of stress like this she over reacts and its all drama drama drama. So please pray that she will calm down. I don't need this added stress on top of everything else, it makes it hard because she is the number 1 person I rely on for baby sitting. Thankfully I do have several people that have offered to help watch the kids that I think I'm going to take full advantage of.
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful church family!
Also be praying for Casey's pain to go away, he doesn't like having to be on the morphine at all. He says when they first give it to him it makes him dizzy and a heavy feeling on his chest which is common. It goes away in about 5min he said but he hates that feeling.
I am so thankful that Casey is in a hospital so close to our home, that has been amazing for me to be able to only drive 5min to get to hospital. It allows me to spend my time with him more then driving.
Also we have some amazing kids, While Eli seems to noticed Daddy missing and is acting up a little bit (not bad) and seems to want more snuggles. Willa is being an angel, the one who is normally so fussy with strangers has been awesome with Grandma and my aunt being here with them instead of me. I shouldn't say its just strangers, even people she see's often she doesn't like it if I leave without her. She's at that age, today my awesome Aunt brought her 2 youngest over to watch the kids for me. Faith who is 4 and Patrick who is just 5 days younger then Willa. She said Willa and Patrick played on the floor almost the entire time jabbering at each other and trying to out squeal each other. She even got a picture of all 4 kids sitting on the couch watching Sesame Street together. Ha so cute!
Thank you everyone for your prayers, I will continue the updates as I get them.
This morning Casey texted me that he was awake and eating. Sadly I was so exhausted I didn't even look at the phone till about an hour later. I knew he was in a safe place though, I called him and he said that he feels a tad better. Still having severe pain and they are having to give him morphine every 4 to 6hrs. He was able to keep down breakfast which was good.
A little bit later he called and said that the lung Dr had just been there. Yes I know what they are called, no I can't spell it so I'm not even going to try. LOL
He said that the Dr told him that there is a mass either next to his lungs or IN his lungs (they can't tell) he said that it has an unusual shape to it. This Dr is thinking that maybe its some sort of fungal infection, last night I had actually been thinking about how we need to make sure and let them know that he IS an electrician and that he has been working on some older houses lately and been in some rather old attics. The Dr said as far as asbestos is concerned it would be unlikely because he's not old enough to show that kind of damage yet if that was an issue. They said the attic thing though could be something, especially if its an old house that has had problems with bats in the past. Their poo can cause a fungal infection of this sort, they also be caused by Radon. So hoping THATS not it. They said if it comes back that way then we need to have our basement checked and probably all of us. The argument with that theory is that you would think the rest of us would be equally sick. However (while I'm not trying to say I think its the case) the kids and Casey have all been sick a lot lately. Me personally either I haven't been or I have been ignoring it or not noticing it due to dealing with everyone else. I have been telling Casey for the past week that I am just tired of everyone being sick and it seems to be an endless cycle. Just as I think we're all on the mend someone else gets sick. Willa is currently on meds for what is thought to be either strep or an ear infection. Both looked red on Monday at her Dr's appointment. So that thought scares me a little.
Also the Dr said this could all be related from when Casey was sick with bronchitis back in Jan (which I have said I don't think he ever fully recovered and I thought it was pneumonia from the get go). Also said it could be connected to the fact that Casey fell off a ladder around Oct. While he went to the Dr they didn't do x-rays but now they are wondering if that caused more damage then they had thought originally.
So the Dr told Casey that he wants to do a urine test for the fungus. He said on Mon he will have Casey do another CT scan. Casey is interpreting the way he said it as he is going to let him leave the hospital this weekend and have him come back for the CT scan. I don't think that's it I think the Dr just meant come back to radiology. But we'll see I guess, if the CT shows that the mass is smaller and making improvement they will continue the course they are on. If not then the Dr will do a procedure where they take a camera down his throat and biopsy the mass and lymph nodes around it and possibly even remove the mass or most of it at that time. So we'll see what happens over the next few day, it sounds like at this time that Dr doesn't think its pneumonia but he also told Casey that Cancer is highly unlikely at Casey's age. So I guess now we're praying for a fungal infection that is caused by working in older houses and NOT OUR house.
Casey also told me when I was there today that he had to take a potassium pill because his was low due to not being able to eat or keep anything down yesterday. Last night they had him on IV fluids to help with hydration. Today they took it down to just half of what they were giving him which is good.
Please continue to pray for things between my mother in law and myself. I don't want to make her sound like a bad person because she's not, she's a wonderful person but in times of stress like this she over reacts and its all drama drama drama. So please pray that she will calm down. I don't need this added stress on top of everything else, it makes it hard because she is the number 1 person I rely on for baby sitting. Thankfully I do have several people that have offered to help watch the kids that I think I'm going to take full advantage of.
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful church family!
Also be praying for Casey's pain to go away, he doesn't like having to be on the morphine at all. He says when they first give it to him it makes him dizzy and a heavy feeling on his chest which is common. It goes away in about 5min he said but he hates that feeling.
I am so thankful that Casey is in a hospital so close to our home, that has been amazing for me to be able to only drive 5min to get to hospital. It allows me to spend my time with him more then driving.
Also we have some amazing kids, While Eli seems to noticed Daddy missing and is acting up a little bit (not bad) and seems to want more snuggles. Willa is being an angel, the one who is normally so fussy with strangers has been awesome with Grandma and my aunt being here with them instead of me. I shouldn't say its just strangers, even people she see's often she doesn't like it if I leave without her. She's at that age, today my awesome Aunt brought her 2 youngest over to watch the kids for me. Faith who is 4 and Patrick who is just 5 days younger then Willa. She said Willa and Patrick played on the floor almost the entire time jabbering at each other and trying to out squeal each other. She even got a picture of all 4 kids sitting on the couch watching Sesame Street together. Ha so cute!
Thank you everyone for your prayers, I will continue the updates as I get them.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Prayer for Casey
In Jan Casey started getting really sick, he was off most of the month due to no work anyway so he saw the Dr. He had bronchitis at the time and was put on antibiotics. A few weeks later he still wasn't feeling better, and was put on a second round and this time also a steroid to help. Both times they did chest xrays and said they were fine (no pneumonia). Still though he's had bouts of extreme fatigue and every now and then he coughs and it just doesn't sound right. About 2 weeks ago he was having some pain and shortness of breath. We went to the Dr again and again they did a chest xray and blood work. Again the chest xray looked clear, they did learn that his total cholesterol was high. Dr's thought his extreme fatigued could be due to that. They never figured out the pain around his arm.
So yesterday and today Casey was working in Topeka, he was to drive the 1hr and 15min drive, work 10hrs and drive home. Today he called me while he was at lunch like he always does and tells me he's not feeling well. He said he went ahead and went into work because when he woke up not feeling well he just thought he was tired. After all he'd gotten up both days at 5:30, drove the 1hr and 15min drive and yesterday worked 10hrs then drove home. He told me he was going to try and just work 8hrs today and come home early. Around 1:30 he called again and said he was getting worse and was headed home. He said he didn't want to scare me but he was having tingling and numbness in his right hand. Since I used to work at a Dr's office I proceeded to ask him the triage questions we would ask over the phone to see if we should have them talk to a triage nurse right then or send a message to the nurse. I asked him if he was having any pain anywhere, he said yes his upper back (red flag to me). I asked if he had trouble breathing, he said not really, just once in awhile he would have to take a deep breath a couple of times (I didn't tell him but again another red flag to me). I asked if he was having pain in the chest and he said no. He said he could tell he was having a fever because he had the hot and cold thing going. I asked if he felt dizzy and he said not really, I told him I thought the Dr would want him to go to the ER and would he be ok with going to an ER there in Topeka? He said he didn't want to do that, I told him I'd call our Dr's office and get their advice. After telling the receptionist (who I used to work with) what was going on she decided I should talk to the Triage nurse. After waiting for one to be available (a very short time) I talked to the nurse and told her everything Casey had told me. Earlier he had said he was having trouble keeping lunch down as well, since Casey has high Cholesterol she said he should go to the ER ASAP.
So I call Casey back and tell him what she said, I asked if he thought he could find one and he tells me he's already on the highway and out of town so he felt like he could make the drive home and then I could drive him to the hospital.... Honestly, men are so stubborn sometimes! I called my mother in law to see if she could come over and watch the kids so I could take him to the ER. I knew there was NO way I was keeping a 2yr toddler and a 7mo old busy for who knows how long. My mother in law arrived about 20min before Casey did. I explained what was going on and we waited for him to get home. As soon as he got home as he was walking up the porch I knew he was bad. On his way home I had told him to call me every 15min or so to let me know he was ok. When he would call me he sounded pretty chipper and while I could hear the pain in his voice a little bit it wasn't really bad. I looked at him and said "Um we need to go NOW" I kinda hesitated for a split second because at that point I wasn't so sure that we shouldn't just call 911 and have an ambulance take him. However we live within a couple of miles of a hospital and I thought it would probably just be faster to drive him myself. Which is what I did, he was very pale and sweaty on his face yet he was shivering but then not just a couple blocks up the street he was burning hot and opened the window. We got to the hospital and I asked him if he was ok to walk in by himself if I let him off at the door and I went to park. I didn't want him to try walking from the parking lot. He said he could, he was registering by the time I got in there. By the time we got to the hospital he was now having chest pains, but was also having severe pains under his right arm every time he breathed.
The triage nurse took him back rather quickly (although it seemed like to long to me but I know it was only a couple of minutes). She was talking to him and he got white as a ghost and said he felt like he needed to throw up. So she handed him a bag and he threw up, a lot. I felt so bad, I didn't know what I could do for him. The nurse said they were going to get an EKG and went off to find someone or something (she wasn't very good at communicating and was gone what seemed a long time). Finally she came back with another nurse and they said they were going to take him to a room, the 2nd nurse noticed how pale and sweaty he was and told him to stay where he was (sitting in a chair) and she was going to get a wheel chair. We get him to a room and she has him get into a hospital gown. She tells him they are going to do a chest xray, a tech comes in and gets him rather quickly and whisks him off for his xray. Soon they were back, the nurse takes some blood and gives him some Loritab for his fever which was 103 at checkin and to help with the pain he was having. Not to long considering it was an ER later a Dr comes in and talks to Casey. He tells him he's leaning towards thinking Casey had pneumonia but the xrays were in-conclusive (I hate that!). He says he wants to order a CT scan, he is also ordering an EGK and a blood culture, he says that Casey's first blood work came back with a high red cell count. He asks Casey how his pain is and Casey said its starting to return.
The Dr leaves and the nurse comes in to gather lots of blood. She also started him on an IV fluid because Casey had been vomiting a lot since arriving. Another nurse comes in and does an EKG, just as the nurse was finishing up getting all his blood the CT tech arrives to wheel him to the CT scan. She is a bright bubbly person and is talking to Casey while the nurse finishes up, she leaves for a second and then comes back in laughing and says. "I have read to many lab orders today, I had to double check yours because I thought yours said you needed a pregnancy test and I was like WHAT? Turns out I was looking at another patients orders!" We all got a good laugh about it, she tells me it will probably be about 30min and tells me where I can get some coffee or water or a snack from a vending machine. I take the chance and grab something. Spending some time in front of it thinking how terrible it is that they don't provide healthier snacks for those of us on a diet! I wouldn't have been so worried about it except I haven't had a chance to work out today and didn't want to go over on my calories. I opted for animal crackers because they do have "healthy options, just look for the heart!" Really? Animal crackers? Um ok, only 240cal for the bag. Ugh but at least it was food and I was STARVING.
I get back to the room and shortly later I hear Casey's laugh floating down the hall as he's being wheeled back, the meds must be kicking in. As she wheels him back into the room I hear her say "Oh yeah I would have SO fired that Dr!!" I laughed and said "Ah is he telling you his first kidney stone story?" If you don't know it here's the short sweet story. When he was like 20 he started having pain, went to the Dr, Dr thought it was an STD even though he was a virgin and he told the Dr that and sent him to an STD specialist (Casey didn't realize that other Dr was an STD specialist). Turns out Casey was right and it WAS a kidney stone, both Dr's missed it and it took 2 weeks to pass on his own. ANYWAY, its a story Casey likes to tell health care professionals about his old quack Dr, seriously Casey has had some MAJOR health issues his old "family Dr" has missed over the years. Thankfully he now sees excellent Dr's that I switched him too when we first met.
A short time later the Dr was back and he said the CT scan report wasn't fully out yet but there is SOMETHING on the CT scan. He said at this time they are inclined to believe its pneumonia and that he has two options. He can be treated in patient, or out patient. Inpatient of course would be being admitted to the hospital and given IV antibiotics. Out patient would be where he was giving a script for antibiotics and pain meds and sent home. Casey wanted to come home, I asked the Dr which would help him heal better? I was thinking IV would be better then trying to take something if he's throwing up, the Dr said actually normally at home is better because few patients sleep well in the hospital. But it was up to us, he leaves us to discuss some more. He tells us he is going to have the nurse put him on a IV antibiotic NOW to at least get that in his system before he's sent home if we choose to do that. The nurse comes in a few minutes later, Casey is having pain again and looks pale and isn't as talkative anymore (a sure sign he's not feeling well). The nurse asked us if the Dr talked to us and we told her what he said, she said there was more that the Dr was going to be talking to us about and she felt like going home wasn't a good idea. Just then the Dr walks in and says that the longer report of the CT was out and that he has some sort of mass. They are hoping its just pneumonia but it could in fact be a tumor. Needless to say neither of us were expecting THAT, he said given the new report, the fact that Casey has turned white as a sheet again and is in pain he strongly recommends Casey stay in the hospital. We both agree right away and they start getting ready to get him admitted. Of course that takes awhile. The nurse came back in again and gave him some morphine this time for the pain. Over the course of time that we'd been there (roughly 4 1/2hrs) he was given Loritab, tordal (shot) and now morphine. So not good, you know if Casey is complaining of pain it is severe because he NEVER complains and he does NOT like taking meds.
They tell us it might be a little bit before they know which room to take Casey too, so once the morphine was on board and he was back to looking a little more pink I told him I was going to run home. Get him a change of clothes for if they let him put on regular clothes or in case he wanted to shower at least he'd have clean underwear and asked him if he wanted me to bring anything else from home. I got him his cell phone charger, my lap top and I grabbed me some dinner and checked on the kids and Grandma Stephie. I told her I'd be back shortly, I wasn't going to be long just drop the stuff off and see if they had said anything else.
When I get back the nurses were just finishing up putting a new IV on him and getting him settled in his new room. Casey tells me that a 2nd Dr had come in and talked to him. So as of now here is what we know.
There is some sort of mass in his chest area. Its a solid mass, the Dr still hopes its just pneumonia but he says that this type of pneumonia isn't something you normally see on a younger man. However the mass IS solid, if it is pneumonia they said this type doesn't show up on xrays well at all and chances are this mass (whatever it is) has been the root of his problem since Jan. Which I've been saying he was NOT 100% better and I've been saying for a couple of weeks I thought he had pneumonia and that it for some reason wasn't showing up on xrays. Tomorrow they are running more tests, they are concerned because while its presenting like pneumonia he is not coughing really unless he vomits and if he does cough he's not getting any mucus out. They want to get a culture on a good gunk of mucus if he does cough some out. At this point that's all we know.
So I know people are wondering how we're holding up etc, at this point neither of us are terribly worried. We are praying its just pneumonia or something easily treatable. I was talking to my Aunt about it and she was asking how I was doing emotionally. Emotionally I'm tired, very tired yet I doubt I'll be able to sleep. I am confident though that the Lord has this all under control and I am determined to stay strong and not worry. Not only for Casey but for the kids, the hardest part on me at this point is that I feel pulled in two places, I want to be with Casey yet I need to be home with the kids. They are advising at least for 24hrs not to allow the kids to see Casey in case its something that is very contagious (they mentioned like MRSA) we don't want to get the babies sick.
Through it all tho I have seen God at work already, the fact that he protected Casey as he drove all that way home. The fact that the ER got him in, in a relatively short period of time. There weren't very many people in the waiting room at the time but when I left there were a LOT of people and a line to register. The staff has been very kind to us and attended Casey very quickly and have expressed concern for him not just "get him in and get him out" type of thing. I am ever so thankful that the hospital is such a short distance because that will make visiting him easier. The fact that my mother in law was able to drop everything and come over to watch our babies who were very well behaved for her was a huge blessing too. I do see a lot of positive in everything that has happened today even though its been a somewhat scary afternoon.
Some things we would appreciate prayers on would be:
Wisdom for the Dr's to figure out what this is.
Healing for Casey from whatever it is.
Strength for me to handle the babies on my own for awhile as well as time to visit Casey while he is there.
For me the hardest part of this whole thing right now is going to be in dealing with my mother in law. Please understand I love her dearly! She is an amazing woman and I mean her no disrespect. However, she is high strung, is that the word I want to use? I think so, she has trouble understanding medical issues. Also Casey is her only child which well means we get more focused attention which is normally a great blessing. She has been a huge blessing to us, however she is worried and confused about his health. When she's worried or scared she tends to assume things. Some of the things I heard tonight from her was that our "new diet" is making him sick! She doesn't understand that we haven't even STARTED said diet yet. She also thinks that Casey going completely off soda cold turkey is making him sick. Ok granted it can cause a wallop of a headache, maybe some fatigued initially but not THIS serious of an illness. Then there is the whole Dr thing, "Why don't they know whats going on? They don't seem like very good Dr's! He needs a BODY SCAN!!! Why haven't they done xrays? EKG? CAT Scan? Blood Work?" All of which they have done and I calmly remind her that I have told her that they DID all that and she says "Then how can they not know whats going on???? Are you SURE their good Dr's? Maybe he needs to go to St Lukes" Again I LOVE her I really do! But she just has a hard time understanding medical stuff. It doesn't help that during the whole process she's talking to other family members (who are NOT the problem). The problem is that she is also conversing with someone who is NOT family but is in a relationship with a family member and is butting her nose in where it doesn't belong. Getting Steph all worked up because "She knows about medical stuff", again another source of stress for me as she told Steph who didn't know what pneumonia was when I texted it to her (she didn't know that's how it was spelled) this lady told Steph that pneumonia was a "pinched nerve in the brain" Um no. To which I have to admit I wasn't so kind when Steph told me that, I was actually rather cruel towards this lady when I told Steph that SHE (Sally) had a pinched nerve in her brain in the fact that it wasn't working right. I so shouldn't have said that or thought that, but well I was stressed a little and to be honest its not far from the truth with this lady.
So please be in prayer for our family, we need Casey to be healthy. We want Casey home, we love him and miss him dearly. The kids light up when he gets home and I know its going to be very tough on us 3 alone for the next few days. Thanks for your prayers! We are totally trusting God and I will post any updates as I get them.
So yesterday and today Casey was working in Topeka, he was to drive the 1hr and 15min drive, work 10hrs and drive home. Today he called me while he was at lunch like he always does and tells me he's not feeling well. He said he went ahead and went into work because when he woke up not feeling well he just thought he was tired. After all he'd gotten up both days at 5:30, drove the 1hr and 15min drive and yesterday worked 10hrs then drove home. He told me he was going to try and just work 8hrs today and come home early. Around 1:30 he called again and said he was getting worse and was headed home. He said he didn't want to scare me but he was having tingling and numbness in his right hand. Since I used to work at a Dr's office I proceeded to ask him the triage questions we would ask over the phone to see if we should have them talk to a triage nurse right then or send a message to the nurse. I asked him if he was having any pain anywhere, he said yes his upper back (red flag to me). I asked if he had trouble breathing, he said not really, just once in awhile he would have to take a deep breath a couple of times (I didn't tell him but again another red flag to me). I asked if he was having pain in the chest and he said no. He said he could tell he was having a fever because he had the hot and cold thing going. I asked if he felt dizzy and he said not really, I told him I thought the Dr would want him to go to the ER and would he be ok with going to an ER there in Topeka? He said he didn't want to do that, I told him I'd call our Dr's office and get their advice. After telling the receptionist (who I used to work with) what was going on she decided I should talk to the Triage nurse. After waiting for one to be available (a very short time) I talked to the nurse and told her everything Casey had told me. Earlier he had said he was having trouble keeping lunch down as well, since Casey has high Cholesterol she said he should go to the ER ASAP.
So I call Casey back and tell him what she said, I asked if he thought he could find one and he tells me he's already on the highway and out of town so he felt like he could make the drive home and then I could drive him to the hospital.... Honestly, men are so stubborn sometimes! I called my mother in law to see if she could come over and watch the kids so I could take him to the ER. I knew there was NO way I was keeping a 2yr toddler and a 7mo old busy for who knows how long. My mother in law arrived about 20min before Casey did. I explained what was going on and we waited for him to get home. As soon as he got home as he was walking up the porch I knew he was bad. On his way home I had told him to call me every 15min or so to let me know he was ok. When he would call me he sounded pretty chipper and while I could hear the pain in his voice a little bit it wasn't really bad. I looked at him and said "Um we need to go NOW" I kinda hesitated for a split second because at that point I wasn't so sure that we shouldn't just call 911 and have an ambulance take him. However we live within a couple of miles of a hospital and I thought it would probably just be faster to drive him myself. Which is what I did, he was very pale and sweaty on his face yet he was shivering but then not just a couple blocks up the street he was burning hot and opened the window. We got to the hospital and I asked him if he was ok to walk in by himself if I let him off at the door and I went to park. I didn't want him to try walking from the parking lot. He said he could, he was registering by the time I got in there. By the time we got to the hospital he was now having chest pains, but was also having severe pains under his right arm every time he breathed.
The triage nurse took him back rather quickly (although it seemed like to long to me but I know it was only a couple of minutes). She was talking to him and he got white as a ghost and said he felt like he needed to throw up. So she handed him a bag and he threw up, a lot. I felt so bad, I didn't know what I could do for him. The nurse said they were going to get an EKG and went off to find someone or something (she wasn't very good at communicating and was gone what seemed a long time). Finally she came back with another nurse and they said they were going to take him to a room, the 2nd nurse noticed how pale and sweaty he was and told him to stay where he was (sitting in a chair) and she was going to get a wheel chair. We get him to a room and she has him get into a hospital gown. She tells him they are going to do a chest xray, a tech comes in and gets him rather quickly and whisks him off for his xray. Soon they were back, the nurse takes some blood and gives him some Loritab for his fever which was 103 at checkin and to help with the pain he was having. Not to long considering it was an ER later a Dr comes in and talks to Casey. He tells him he's leaning towards thinking Casey had pneumonia but the xrays were in-conclusive (I hate that!). He says he wants to order a CT scan, he is also ordering an EGK and a blood culture, he says that Casey's first blood work came back with a high red cell count. He asks Casey how his pain is and Casey said its starting to return.
The Dr leaves and the nurse comes in to gather lots of blood. She also started him on an IV fluid because Casey had been vomiting a lot since arriving. Another nurse comes in and does an EKG, just as the nurse was finishing up getting all his blood the CT tech arrives to wheel him to the CT scan. She is a bright bubbly person and is talking to Casey while the nurse finishes up, she leaves for a second and then comes back in laughing and says. "I have read to many lab orders today, I had to double check yours because I thought yours said you needed a pregnancy test and I was like WHAT? Turns out I was looking at another patients orders!" We all got a good laugh about it, she tells me it will probably be about 30min and tells me where I can get some coffee or water or a snack from a vending machine. I take the chance and grab something. Spending some time in front of it thinking how terrible it is that they don't provide healthier snacks for those of us on a diet! I wouldn't have been so worried about it except I haven't had a chance to work out today and didn't want to go over on my calories. I opted for animal crackers because they do have "healthy options, just look for the heart!" Really? Animal crackers? Um ok, only 240cal for the bag. Ugh but at least it was food and I was STARVING.
I get back to the room and shortly later I hear Casey's laugh floating down the hall as he's being wheeled back, the meds must be kicking in. As she wheels him back into the room I hear her say "Oh yeah I would have SO fired that Dr!!" I laughed and said "Ah is he telling you his first kidney stone story?" If you don't know it here's the short sweet story. When he was like 20 he started having pain, went to the Dr, Dr thought it was an STD even though he was a virgin and he told the Dr that and sent him to an STD specialist (Casey didn't realize that other Dr was an STD specialist). Turns out Casey was right and it WAS a kidney stone, both Dr's missed it and it took 2 weeks to pass on his own. ANYWAY, its a story Casey likes to tell health care professionals about his old quack Dr, seriously Casey has had some MAJOR health issues his old "family Dr" has missed over the years. Thankfully he now sees excellent Dr's that I switched him too when we first met.
A short time later the Dr was back and he said the CT scan report wasn't fully out yet but there is SOMETHING on the CT scan. He said at this time they are inclined to believe its pneumonia and that he has two options. He can be treated in patient, or out patient. Inpatient of course would be being admitted to the hospital and given IV antibiotics. Out patient would be where he was giving a script for antibiotics and pain meds and sent home. Casey wanted to come home, I asked the Dr which would help him heal better? I was thinking IV would be better then trying to take something if he's throwing up, the Dr said actually normally at home is better because few patients sleep well in the hospital. But it was up to us, he leaves us to discuss some more. He tells us he is going to have the nurse put him on a IV antibiotic NOW to at least get that in his system before he's sent home if we choose to do that. The nurse comes in a few minutes later, Casey is having pain again and looks pale and isn't as talkative anymore (a sure sign he's not feeling well). The nurse asked us if the Dr talked to us and we told her what he said, she said there was more that the Dr was going to be talking to us about and she felt like going home wasn't a good idea. Just then the Dr walks in and says that the longer report of the CT was out and that he has some sort of mass. They are hoping its just pneumonia but it could in fact be a tumor. Needless to say neither of us were expecting THAT, he said given the new report, the fact that Casey has turned white as a sheet again and is in pain he strongly recommends Casey stay in the hospital. We both agree right away and they start getting ready to get him admitted. Of course that takes awhile. The nurse came back in again and gave him some morphine this time for the pain. Over the course of time that we'd been there (roughly 4 1/2hrs) he was given Loritab, tordal (shot) and now morphine. So not good, you know if Casey is complaining of pain it is severe because he NEVER complains and he does NOT like taking meds.
They tell us it might be a little bit before they know which room to take Casey too, so once the morphine was on board and he was back to looking a little more pink I told him I was going to run home. Get him a change of clothes for if they let him put on regular clothes or in case he wanted to shower at least he'd have clean underwear and asked him if he wanted me to bring anything else from home. I got him his cell phone charger, my lap top and I grabbed me some dinner and checked on the kids and Grandma Stephie. I told her I'd be back shortly, I wasn't going to be long just drop the stuff off and see if they had said anything else.
When I get back the nurses were just finishing up putting a new IV on him and getting him settled in his new room. Casey tells me that a 2nd Dr had come in and talked to him. So as of now here is what we know.
There is some sort of mass in his chest area. Its a solid mass, the Dr still hopes its just pneumonia but he says that this type of pneumonia isn't something you normally see on a younger man. However the mass IS solid, if it is pneumonia they said this type doesn't show up on xrays well at all and chances are this mass (whatever it is) has been the root of his problem since Jan. Which I've been saying he was NOT 100% better and I've been saying for a couple of weeks I thought he had pneumonia and that it for some reason wasn't showing up on xrays. Tomorrow they are running more tests, they are concerned because while its presenting like pneumonia he is not coughing really unless he vomits and if he does cough he's not getting any mucus out. They want to get a culture on a good gunk of mucus if he does cough some out. At this point that's all we know.
So I know people are wondering how we're holding up etc, at this point neither of us are terribly worried. We are praying its just pneumonia or something easily treatable. I was talking to my Aunt about it and she was asking how I was doing emotionally. Emotionally I'm tired, very tired yet I doubt I'll be able to sleep. I am confident though that the Lord has this all under control and I am determined to stay strong and not worry. Not only for Casey but for the kids, the hardest part on me at this point is that I feel pulled in two places, I want to be with Casey yet I need to be home with the kids. They are advising at least for 24hrs not to allow the kids to see Casey in case its something that is very contagious (they mentioned like MRSA) we don't want to get the babies sick.
Through it all tho I have seen God at work already, the fact that he protected Casey as he drove all that way home. The fact that the ER got him in, in a relatively short period of time. There weren't very many people in the waiting room at the time but when I left there were a LOT of people and a line to register. The staff has been very kind to us and attended Casey very quickly and have expressed concern for him not just "get him in and get him out" type of thing. I am ever so thankful that the hospital is such a short distance because that will make visiting him easier. The fact that my mother in law was able to drop everything and come over to watch our babies who were very well behaved for her was a huge blessing too. I do see a lot of positive in everything that has happened today even though its been a somewhat scary afternoon.
Some things we would appreciate prayers on would be:
Wisdom for the Dr's to figure out what this is.
Healing for Casey from whatever it is.
Strength for me to handle the babies on my own for awhile as well as time to visit Casey while he is there.
For me the hardest part of this whole thing right now is going to be in dealing with my mother in law. Please understand I love her dearly! She is an amazing woman and I mean her no disrespect. However, she is high strung, is that the word I want to use? I think so, she has trouble understanding medical issues. Also Casey is her only child which well means we get more focused attention which is normally a great blessing. She has been a huge blessing to us, however she is worried and confused about his health. When she's worried or scared she tends to assume things. Some of the things I heard tonight from her was that our "new diet" is making him sick! She doesn't understand that we haven't even STARTED said diet yet. She also thinks that Casey going completely off soda cold turkey is making him sick. Ok granted it can cause a wallop of a headache, maybe some fatigued initially but not THIS serious of an illness. Then there is the whole Dr thing, "Why don't they know whats going on? They don't seem like very good Dr's! He needs a BODY SCAN!!! Why haven't they done xrays? EKG? CAT Scan? Blood Work?" All of which they have done and I calmly remind her that I have told her that they DID all that and she says "Then how can they not know whats going on???? Are you SURE their good Dr's? Maybe he needs to go to St Lukes" Again I LOVE her I really do! But she just has a hard time understanding medical stuff. It doesn't help that during the whole process she's talking to other family members (who are NOT the problem). The problem is that she is also conversing with someone who is NOT family but is in a relationship with a family member and is butting her nose in where it doesn't belong. Getting Steph all worked up because "She knows about medical stuff", again another source of stress for me as she told Steph who didn't know what pneumonia was when I texted it to her (she didn't know that's how it was spelled) this lady told Steph that pneumonia was a "pinched nerve in the brain" Um no. To which I have to admit I wasn't so kind when Steph told me that, I was actually rather cruel towards this lady when I told Steph that SHE (Sally) had a pinched nerve in her brain in the fact that it wasn't working right. I so shouldn't have said that or thought that, but well I was stressed a little and to be honest its not far from the truth with this lady.
So please be in prayer for our family, we need Casey to be healthy. We want Casey home, we love him and miss him dearly. The kids light up when he gets home and I know its going to be very tough on us 3 alone for the next few days. Thanks for your prayers! We are totally trusting God and I will post any updates as I get them.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
More changes coming.
Almost 2yrs ago we learned that Casey's Cholesterol was out of control, actually mostly just his Triglycerides.
At that time the Dr put him on Lovaza which is just a prescription high dose fish oil and suggested diet changes. We were also recommended to visit with a dietitian to discuss changing diet. We had every intention of doing just that, but well life kinda got busy. Casey started working out of town a lot that year and just as he was back in town I ended up pregnant again and well excuse after excuse followed.
Fast forward to two weeks ago and Casey is having health issues, we haven't rechecked his triglycerides just yet but that's coming at the end up the month. However his total cholesterol was still high. This time the Dr feels its more genetic since we have been eating healthier and Casey has a very active lifestyle. (He's an electrician which is a very active job). So we decided we needed to stop putting off going to the dietitian and we did so last night. We learned some very interesting things and we are in the process of making some BIG changes.
So last night we had our appointment, she starts off by asking what our diet consists of. We very proudly tell her we have been eating healthy meals for dinner (mostly chicken,turkey and low fat pork). We eat at home all week now (except last night) instead of eating out and I'm making real meals instead of the processed crap you can just throw in the oven or microwave. Casey proudly tells her instead of eating fatty fast food he's been eating at Mr Goodcents and getting a turkey sub. She asks if he eats breakfast and he says he tries to grab a nutigrain bar to take with him on his way out. We discuss how we've switched to whole wheat breads instead of white and I've been trying to wean us off the soda stuff. Casey tells her that he snacks in the evening but its normally grapes, apples and oranges (good stuff). She nods and says that's good BUT.........
So it turns out what she thinks is happening (she's very certain and it makes sense to us that she would be right) is that Casey body is unable to process carbs the way it should. While we have been trying to limit bad carbs we really need to limit ALL carbs. As well as all grains (even whole wheat). She said she's going to recommend an extreme diet and said we need to understand that this is not something she recommends to everyone. She said in fact if she still worked at KU Med she'd probably get fired for recommending this diet its so extreme. But if we don't get Casey's Triglycerides under control then he will end up with type 2 diabetes. We SO don't want that, Casey's Grandfather on his mom's side was recently diagnosed with that and since this issue genetic we think that's probably what happened to him because prior to a couple of years ago he was on Lipidtor and once he went diabetic that changed to his insulin. Anyway, the diet she recommended is called a Paleo Diet.
Since Casey's body isn't processing the carbs the way it SHOULD its all turning to sugar and over working his liver to get it out of the body. She said we don't want to do the Adkins diet extreme but we really need to try and follow this pyramid instead. We were so proud of us cutting out the red meats and stuff and she actually told us that red meat is fine if its LEAN. She also said it needs to be Grass-Fed and organic. She said any meat should be Grass-fed, Wild or pasture raised animals. She said Bison is actually a really good meat to eat. She also said no Corn (Grain) and no potatoes (starch/carbs) Also means more expensive but if that's what we need to do to keep Casey healthy we are going to do it. She said for me personally I can join Casey on the Paleo diet if I wanted to but I shouldn't restrict the kids to it yet, I figured what I would do is some of it. She said Fruits and veggies are a good thing, so we'll be incorporating more of all that stuff but I will still allow myself to have a little bit of the grains and stuff (like whole wheat bread). She also said Soda's (which I knew that and I've been trying to get him to cut back) are a HUGE source of carbs and he REALLY needs to cut it out completely. (Yay!) I used to NEVER keep soda in my home till I married Casey and right away we had cases and cases of Soda. I personally drink maybe 1 soda a day if that.
So more big changes going on! I'm going to learn to fix fish and hopefully like it. But most of all we're going to try our best to go as organic as possible! Something I've been wanting to do for awhile to begin with. She recommended getting a membership to Costco, she said that they have a lot of organic meats and veggies for a good price. She said don't be fooled into thinking just because its at a farmers market that its organic. She said a lot of stuff at farmers markets are NOT organic. But they are so pricey too! So Here's to an even HEALTHIER lifestyle. She did tell us we were doing a good job to begin with and normally that would be a great diet for most people. But we are not normal (I could have told you that!) So we need a more extreme diet.
I want to stress that she stressed this diet is NOT for everyone and should be followed carefully. I plan on lots of research.
At that time the Dr put him on Lovaza which is just a prescription high dose fish oil and suggested diet changes. We were also recommended to visit with a dietitian to discuss changing diet. We had every intention of doing just that, but well life kinda got busy. Casey started working out of town a lot that year and just as he was back in town I ended up pregnant again and well excuse after excuse followed.
Fast forward to two weeks ago and Casey is having health issues, we haven't rechecked his triglycerides just yet but that's coming at the end up the month. However his total cholesterol was still high. This time the Dr feels its more genetic since we have been eating healthier and Casey has a very active lifestyle. (He's an electrician which is a very active job). So we decided we needed to stop putting off going to the dietitian and we did so last night. We learned some very interesting things and we are in the process of making some BIG changes.
So last night we had our appointment, she starts off by asking what our diet consists of. We very proudly tell her we have been eating healthy meals for dinner (mostly chicken,turkey and low fat pork). We eat at home all week now (except last night) instead of eating out and I'm making real meals instead of the processed crap you can just throw in the oven or microwave. Casey proudly tells her instead of eating fatty fast food he's been eating at Mr Goodcents and getting a turkey sub. She asks if he eats breakfast and he says he tries to grab a nutigrain bar to take with him on his way out. We discuss how we've switched to whole wheat breads instead of white and I've been trying to wean us off the soda stuff. Casey tells her that he snacks in the evening but its normally grapes, apples and oranges (good stuff). She nods and says that's good BUT.........
So it turns out what she thinks is happening (she's very certain and it makes sense to us that she would be right) is that Casey body is unable to process carbs the way it should. While we have been trying to limit bad carbs we really need to limit ALL carbs. As well as all grains (even whole wheat). She said she's going to recommend an extreme diet and said we need to understand that this is not something she recommends to everyone. She said in fact if she still worked at KU Med she'd probably get fired for recommending this diet its so extreme. But if we don't get Casey's Triglycerides under control then he will end up with type 2 diabetes. We SO don't want that, Casey's Grandfather on his mom's side was recently diagnosed with that and since this issue genetic we think that's probably what happened to him because prior to a couple of years ago he was on Lipidtor and once he went diabetic that changed to his insulin. Anyway, the diet she recommended is called a Paleo Diet.
Since Casey's body isn't processing the carbs the way it SHOULD its all turning to sugar and over working his liver to get it out of the body. She said we don't want to do the Adkins diet extreme but we really need to try and follow this pyramid instead. We were so proud of us cutting out the red meats and stuff and she actually told us that red meat is fine if its LEAN. She also said it needs to be Grass-Fed and organic. She said any meat should be Grass-fed, Wild or pasture raised animals. She said Bison is actually a really good meat to eat. She also said no Corn (Grain) and no potatoes (starch/carbs) Also means more expensive but if that's what we need to do to keep Casey healthy we are going to do it. She said for me personally I can join Casey on the Paleo diet if I wanted to but I shouldn't restrict the kids to it yet, I figured what I would do is some of it. She said Fruits and veggies are a good thing, so we'll be incorporating more of all that stuff but I will still allow myself to have a little bit of the grains and stuff (like whole wheat bread). She also said Soda's (which I knew that and I've been trying to get him to cut back) are a HUGE source of carbs and he REALLY needs to cut it out completely. (Yay!) I used to NEVER keep soda in my home till I married Casey and right away we had cases and cases of Soda. I personally drink maybe 1 soda a day if that.
So more big changes going on! I'm going to learn to fix fish and hopefully like it. But most of all we're going to try our best to go as organic as possible! Something I've been wanting to do for awhile to begin with. She recommended getting a membership to Costco, she said that they have a lot of organic meats and veggies for a good price. She said don't be fooled into thinking just because its at a farmers market that its organic. She said a lot of stuff at farmers markets are NOT organic. But they are so pricey too! So Here's to an even HEALTHIER lifestyle. She did tell us we were doing a good job to begin with and normally that would be a great diet for most people. But we are not normal (I could have told you that!) So we need a more extreme diet.
I want to stress that she stressed this diet is NOT for everyone and should be followed carefully. I plan on lots of research.