'Twas the Week Before Christmas

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through our house, we're tired and we're praying and we're afraid to ask what else...

Caleb ~ Croup
Caleb came down suddenly with croup last Tuesday night. It was a long, fairly sleepless night, but he didn't have a fever and seemed a little better in the morning (should've been my first clue!), so we took him to daycare. Rudy took him to the pediatrician on Wednesday afternoon and he was diagnosed with croup. The pediatrician wanted to put him on Orapred, but Rudy stood his ground and refused it because Caleb had such a terrible behavioral change the last time he was on it. That meant a steroid injection was the only other option. Poor little guy had to have a shot in each thigh. He was NOT impressed with that idea. Rudy stayed home with him on Thursday and they ran some errands and hung out at the house. I came home Thursday afternoon in time for Rudy to go to his Christmas rehearsal for the gig he was playing in Springdale.

Haley ~ Blood Pressure
On Friday, I took Caleb to daycare and went to work like normal. I was looking forward to a productive day at work. At about 9:00, I went to make some copies and got really light-headed and nauseated. I went into the nurse's office and asked her take my blood pressure. She looked at me like I was crazy and told me that my blood pressure was only 70/40. I told her I felt like I was going to be sick and she sent me to her bathroom with a chair to sit in. I never did get sick, but told her I needed to go home. She made me promise to call my OB's office and arranged a ride home for me while I went to get my purse. When I got home, I called the phone nurse at Dr. Ford's office. She told me that blood pressure that low was either a sign that I was coming down with something (like the stomach flu that was going around school) or that I was dehydrated. She told me to drink some pedialyte and rest. If I didn't get sick, that meant I was just dehydrated and needed to increase my fluid intake. Sure enough, I guzzled some pedialyte and slept a couple of hours and woke up feeling much better except for a headache. It was a scary morning, but turned out okay. Since then, I've started drinking 2-3 small gatorades a day to make sure I'm hydrated and my electrolytes are up.

Grandma Voise ~ Colon Cancer
Rudy slept with Caleb Friday night because he still wasn't feeling great and was waking up with a stuffy head repeatedly. After waking up off and on all night, they didn't get out of bed until almost 8:30. Later in the morning, Rudy noticed that he had a phone message from his mom. She had called earlier and said that his grandmother was in the hospital here in Rogers, so he spent the majority of the day up there. The doctor admitted her for intestinal blockage and she had a colonoscopy on Saturday. The colonoscopy showed a blockage, but they said it was treatable. On Sunday, they followed up with further testing and determined that it was a tumor. She had surgery on Sunday afternoon to remove a malignant tumor from her colon. We are still waiting on the pathology report to determine if the malignancy has spread and what stage of cancer she is in. That will determine the next step and the course of action that will be taken to treat her. She'll be in the hospital the rest of the week for sure. Rudy went by the hospital tonight to see her and said that she is in pretty good spirits, but is getting tired of being there. After he visited with her, Caleb and I met him, Doug and Kathy for pizza. Doug is in town until Wednesday and Ken is coming on Thursday.

Memmie ~ Bone Infection
As I mentioned previously, I went to Little Rock on Monday (11/7) to take my grandmother to a doctor appointment. She had another appointment today - this time with an ENT at UAMS. Thank goodness our longtime family friend (and practically a family member in her own right), Pat, was able to go with her. I just couldn't take another day off and my aunt and uncle can't be here until this weekend. She doesn't NEED anyone to go with her, but it sure is helpful to have someone there to ask questions and gather information to share with everyone else. Well, the doctor today didn't really have any answers either. He did order another CT scan and a follow-up appointment afterward. The next appointment is next Monday. He put her back on another round of antibiotics between now and then. Hopefully, we'll get more information at the next appointment.

So, as I told someone earlier today - our familial plate is full. This is a busy week for Rudy and I at work and just a busy time of year in general. I'm 32 weeks pregnant, which comes with its own set of trials and triumphs. I keep singing "Be Still and Know (that I am God)" to calm my thoughts. I am so grateful that we only have 5 more days of work before we're off for 2 weeks.