Happy Birthday James!

Wishing you a wonderfully happy birthday.

In the waiting room awaiting Christina's turn. It feels like a long morning so far. I am unsure what to think about being here. I park, load my pockets with keys camera batteries snack, grab badge holder, and of course my coffee cup. My cup still has the hospital tape that read "Daddy" from Christina's take down surgery. The writing wore off long ago, but I still see it.

I walk in, stop at the info desk, get my badge, head to the restroom, walk to the OR waiting area and sit. I see the parents still green watch me with a puzzled look. I smile at them and think to myself how that used to be me.

To all the parents at the hospital: hi.

Happy Birthday Sheri!

Wishing you a wonderfully happy birthday.

I finished my backups for 2012. Woo Hoo.

This is your reminder to do the same.

Pictures, videos, etc are way too important to lose.

Remember the 3, 2, 1 rule. Three copies, two types of media, and one off-site location.

It is that time again, another round of Phenol blocks and Botox for Christina.

Christina has been a little sick for quite some time and her teeth have been giving her discomfort. We are hopeful she will be well for surgery. Pre-op appointment is today.

Christina has enjoyed lots of cuddle time and a lot of reading. Also enjoys short bouts outside for a walk and her wagon ride.

Ah the backup of pictures and videos. Staying current is a chore, but well worth it.

Happy New Year!!!
Wishing all a wonderful new year.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Christina and I had a great Christmas. Christina was pleased with her gifts from Santa. We had lots of fun over the weekend. I found a sled that would work for Christina and pulled her around the yard and up and down the block. She did a great job holding her head up.

Christina's two front teeth also came out. At bedtime we put them under her pillow for the tooth fairy. It was very cute when she reached under her pillow to grab the bag they were in and pulled it close to her.

All Christina lost for Christmas are her two front teeth.


Christina lost both her front teeth Sunday. It was very cute when she went to bed I put the teeth in a bag under her pillow. We spoke about the tooth fairy and Christina reached under her pillow and grabbed the bag to pull it close. The tooth fairy may have had trouble getting the bag of teeth that night.

Christina also did a wonderful job holding her head up while I pulled her in a sled.



Christina was on the nice list so Santa was pleased. Christmas was fun.

After a couple of scary trips to the ER Christina is almost to her usual self.

Thursday after a full day of school Christina went to speech as normal. After speech she had some spots that had formed around her neck and ears. Further inspection showed more spots in various places all over her body. The spots were scary similar to when Christina had serum sickness so there was little deliberation on whether the ER was the next step.

Having care facility choices we opted for Luther (Mayo Clinic Health System) this time. As of yet no one is sure what Christina has. The doctor who saw Christina came up with a plan and informed Angela and I of his choice and why. We were home before eleven that night. Christina even had a beautiful blood draw when lab came in. Thank you Sara. Our instructions were to see Christina's pediatrician on Friday and to start a round of steroids and pain medication to address the spots and discomfort.

Christina made it to late morning and the ER started to look like the activity for the day. After more observation and a nap for the princess, Christina was at the ER by noon.

By 13:00 (1:00 pm) they were still trying to start an IV line. Having 'blown' a vein so bad on Christina's right arm they had no choice but to try only the left. Christina's forearm is three quarters covered in a bruise from the blown line. Making a good effort they brought in the ultra sound machine. They got the line with a cobble job which also left a half dollar size bruise on her left arm. Then they had to draw blood for labs so another stick. Using the ultra sound to find their way another poke and 'fishing' to get the blood. By fishing I am referring to the in and out and side to side motion they do with the needle while trying to draw blood when they can't get the needle in right. So another half dollar size bruise on her left arm. Then the IV, by the time they were done Christina had tape from her wrist to her shoulder to hold the IV needle and line in place. After two hundred ml of fluids they slowed the drip to 15 ml/hr. That would be a rate used with no medical benefit. It is used to keep the line open just in case. They could have unhooked the line and left the IV in.

Angela expressed her concern to the ER doctor and nurse for Christina's tone and pain. From the time I got to the hospital at about 13:00 I first saw the doctor come in at 16:30 (4:30 pm). This was not by his choice. Christina's pain and tone had become so bad she was hard to hold and to handle. We called the nurse so she could call the doctor. After four and a half hours he told us he was waiting for another doctor and had already sent her a page. He dismissed our concern by not even answering and left the room. As Christina's pain and tone get worse without being kept in check we called the doctor again. He came in told us again he was waiting for another doctor and to summarize '...did not want to treat Christina'. He was told to do something now whether it be giving Christina medication to break up her tone and to offset the pain or to get the doctor. Not page her, get the doctor. The pediatrician was in at 17:00 (5:00 pm). After fifteen minutes of beating around the bush we still had no answers. After waiting for five hours and being patronized we wanted answers.

Thinking back I am trying to figure out how they could be so bad at their job. They had records from their facility, records from Sacred Heart, and records from Children's Minneapolis. All these records were at the ER on Thursday night.

After looking at Christina's chart and coming up with her own plan for medication the pediatrician shared with us her plan and went to write scripts. As she was describing her thoughts on medication Angela and I looked at each knowing something was not right. Just wanting to get Christina home and not able to put our finger on it we did not say anything. Discharge papers followed soon and we were on our way home.

Once out of the hospital we read the info from Thursday and compared it to the info from Friday. The information from Thursday followed suit with what the pediatrician told us on Friday; however, her information was the opposite on half of it. So we followed the directions from Thursday.

The weekend was mellow with lots of reading. I woke Christina up for school on Monday, but the princess did not want to go. I tried to push a little knowing she enjoys school and it may help seeing her classmates with a definite 'no'. We went to see Christina's regular pediatrician Monday afternoon. We are weening the steroids and the diazepam use is minimal. The hydrocodone use has slowed, but is still enough that a close eye must be kept.

Christina is fighting to be back to her typical self. She went to school on Tuesday and went to speech afterwards.