Desperately Seeking Spring!

Its been a long and germ-y couple of weeks in the Roth household.  I am currently finishing my own round of antibiotics after Nate was kind enough to share his strep throat.  Strep throat is something I have NEVER had.  This was something my sister Tammy always had growing up - never me.  So when the gal at the Minute Clinic cultured my throat last Thursday - I assured her I didn't have strep.  Six minutes later...I had strep.  Happily I am three pills away from finishing my Amoxicillin which has been wreaking HAVOC on my stomach.  Wah wah wah.  Complaining is over.

I was however still able to run an 8K last weekend.  I have set a goal to run at least one race per month until the half marathon in August.  Next up is the Shamrock Shuffle on April 10th!

Finley working with one of our favorite therapists Debi.  We love her!

Nate (in his undies of course) helping out during Finley's OT session.

Debi working her magic with Finley
In spite of the fact that Finley did indeed end up catching my cold, it was originally masked by the fact that she had two molars break through in the same day last week - so we thought the runny nose was attributed to the teeth.  And then it hung around.  But she is definitely on the up swing now and three of her therapists have commented this week about how her sessions with them were some of the best yet.  She is full of energy (as well as sassiness) and she has been moving and groovin' all over the place.






And so we wait with baited breath for spring to actually, well.....SPRING!  Mother Nature needs to stop teasing us and get on with it.  I am actually dying to plant some flowers and try my hand at a mini container garden (that I have been planning to plant for years and I never get around to it).  Some tomatoes, a little basil, maybe some sugar snap peas.  And hopefully a little landscaping around the patio in the backyard.  Perhaps I should get around to touching up the paint on the ceiling in my bedroom too.  After all, its been a year since I painted it and there are still little pieces of blue tape marking the spots that need to be touched up.  How's that for procrastination!

3 comments:

Kurby Family said...

It is hard when Mommy is sick, so I hope you are feeling better! 2 molars is tough for poor Finley too. We are waiting for spring over here too!

Sylvia said...

Great photos of Nate and Finley! I love the two munchkins.

Annie said...

WOW, Tracy that is an awesome running goal!! Good for you. Nice to hear Finley is doing so well in her therapies :-) We here at the Cue household are dying for Spring as well!!! Want to put those winter coats in the closet already ;-)

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Finley's Medical History

Born on 8/8/2009 - Finley is taken to Children's Memorial Hospital via the transport team 12 hours after she is born.  She is having trouble breathing and is turning blue.  She is immediately admitted to the NICU.

8/9/2009 - Finley is diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect and laryngomalacia, a condition that causes her to aspirate whatever she swallows in to her lungs.

8/21/2009 - Finley has open heart surgery to place a Blalock Taussig shunt to help facilitate proper blood flow.  When she is older, she will require a full repair of her heart.

9/10/2009 - Finley is released from the NICU.  Because of her laryngomalacia and reflux, she is fed 100% through a nasal gastric tube.

9/14/2009 - Finley is re-admitted to the hospital for an infection in her surgical wound.  Finley's genetic test comes back - she is diagnosed with CHARGE Syndrome.

9/15/2009 - During a CT scan to assess the infection, the doctors notice something strange on her CT.  It appears Finley has a malrotated bowel and will require surgery.

9/23/2009 - Finley is examined by the opthalmologist and she is found to have colobomas, a condition common with CHARGE Syndrome, in both eyes.  The degree of her visual impairment is unknown.

9/30/2009 - Finley has the Ladd's Procedure to correct the malrotation and also has a g-tube placed.  

10/7/2009 - Finley has a sedated ABR to check her hearing.  She has a mild hearing loss in her right ear and a moderate to severe loss in her left.  Her loss can be at least partially corrected with hearing aids.

10/8/2009 - Finley is supposed to be released from the hospital today but she has been having low blood sugars.  The endocrinology is called in to evaluate her.

10/29/2009 - Finley is finally released from the hospital with a unconfirmed diagnosis of hyperinsulinism.  Actual diagnosis requires fasting blood tests - because of her heart condition, it is not safe for her to fast.  She needs to have her blood sugar tested every three hours and we are taught how to administer an emergency glucagon injection in case her blood sugar gets to low.

11/1/2009 - Finley requires emergency injection because she cannot sustain her blood sugar.  She is taken to the local ER and transported via the transport team to Childrens Memorial.

11/10/2009 - Finley is discharged from the hospital on a 24 hour continuous feed.  We add polycose to her milk to help her keep her blood sugar at an acceptable level.

11/22/2009 - Finley is taken to the local emergency room with a bad cold - she is having trouble breathing and her oxygen saturations are low.   She is transported via the transport team up to Children's Memorial.

11/25/2009 - Finley is released from the hospital - just in time for Thanksgiving.

12/8/2009 - Finley is taken to the local emergency room for observation - she has a bad cold.

12/21/2009 - Nate is chasing the dog and the dog runs in to Finley's IV pole, knocks it down and pulls out her g-tube.  She is taken to the ER at Childrens to have it put back in.

2/10/2010 - Finley is admitted through the ER at Childrens - she has a bad cold again.  Oxygen saturations are low and breathing is labored.

2/13/2010 - Finley is released from the hospital.

4/17/2010 - Finley is taken to the ER at Childrens - she has pus draining from her belly button.  They suspect a urachal cyst - they send us home with orders to return on  Tuesday (during our scheduled visit) for an abdominal ultrasound.

4/20/2010 - Finley is admitted to Childrens for an overnight stay.  She will have a swallow study and abdominal ultrasound on Tuesday and a CT and sedated echocardiogram on Wednesday which will require anesthesia.

4/21/2010 - The anesthesiologists have trouble intubating Finley, so they call in her ENT to have a look at her.  He observes that her airway is 75% closed off - partially due to scar tissue from previous intubation and partially due to an infection.  The diagnosis is subglottic stenosis and may require her to have surgery on her airway.  She is immediately admitted to the PICU and put on a 24/7 breathing treatment and antibiotics and steroids to help reduce the inflammation.

4/26/2010 - Finley is well enough to be taken off of all oxygen.  Immunology and Infectious Disease are called in to examine Finley because the culture of her throat are growing staph and strep.  Infectious Disease is trying to figure out what could have caused her infection.  Immunology labs will be drawn to determine if Finley has an immune problem which sometime occurs with children with CHARGE.  This is the second significant infection she has had since she was born.

4/27/2010 - The lab calls to say that they mis-read Finley's airway culture.  It's not growing staph - its only growing strep.

4/28/2010 - Immunology labs are back and don't show anything significant.  Finley's lymphocyte counts are low but that isn't unusual for a child who is fighting an infection.  The doctor wants to re-examine her before her first birthday.  In the meantime she cannot have any live vaccines.

4/29/2010 - Finley is discharged from the hospital.  The ENT will do a bronchoscopy before her heart repair surgery to determine next steps on her airway issue.

5/11/2010 - Finley has open heart surgery to repair her heart.

5/17/2010 - Finley begins to show signs of infection which is later identified as a urinary tract infection.

5/25/2010 - Finley is discharged from the hospital.

5/30/2010 - Finley goes to the ER at Childrens because of fussiness, sweating, heavy breathing.  And echo later identifies that the pressure gradient around Finley's pulmonary valve is an astounding 90%.

6/1/2010 - Finley is admitted to Childrens to try a medication called Propranolol to help ease the pressure in her heart.

6/2/2010 - The Propranolol brings the pressure in Finley's heart down from 90% to 50%.  Finley has a positive test for C. difficile which will require antibiotic treatment.

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