Saturday, January 14, 2012

Ponderings

Well this week has been a week that has caused a lot of thought and reflection time for our little family. We are having the same issues that a lot of others are having with finances, and are trying to over come the problems that we have caused, but that is not what we are focused on at this point. Our ponderings are based again on our daughter. I don't know if you all know but when she was eight months she gave us all the scare of our lives when she first got sick. The story is bellow if you don't know about it. Well she started kindergarten this year and has loved every moment of it. The only thing is that almost every week to every other week she is sick. Either with a massive cold or with a string of the flu. for the pas two months though it has been the flu. She has had all of her shots and has gotten her flu shot but still is getting sick all the time. We give her vitamins and make sure that she gets all the nutrients she needs to help her be healthy and happy but are still at a massive loss as to why she is sick constantly.

We know that, yes this is her first time at public school and that sickness goes around, but every week getting sick? We don't let her go to school or any where for that matter if she is sick and wait till she is 100% better before we let her go back into the public but there has to be something else doesn't there for why she is always sick? This is why we are pondering, we are thinking, is is something to do with her thymus again? Is there anything else wrong that is causing her to be sick? We haven't taken her to the doctor yet but are contemplating but want to have a list of questions ready for when we do. But all we can think is, is this normal for kids to be constantly sick their first year of school or is this a little extreme? We definitely will be taking her in but it is just wondering what is going on that has a worried. I guess that is why these are ponderings and why it is nice to get them written down and out of my system to see if anyone has any ideas.

Story to help understand Ponderings

At eight months old Embree had, had a cough for almost a month and no medication was working and it just got worse. We had been to several doctors and still couldn't figure out what was going on. The last doctor finally said we should get x-rays and see if maybe it was pertussis (whooping cough). He was able to set up an appointment to get the x-rays right then. Embree didn't like them at all and it took Jace, two nurses and I to hold her down so they could get the x-ray. Well it took a day to get the results and when they arrived our lives changed. Jace had just gone to work at his parents restaurant and I had just got Embree out of a bath when the doctor called. All I remember is my grandma (who we were living with at the time) coming into the bathroom and telling me the doctor is on the phone and he said it was an emergency. When I got to the phone all i remember is hearing it is a tumor between her heart and lungs and it looks cancerous you need to get her to primary children's asap. The doctor said he had already called the hospital and told them we were on our way and he had a folder of the x-rays for us to pick up to take as well.

All I remember was calling Jace and balling, I guess that was all I had to do and he was on his way home. I tried to call my family and none of them were home but my brother, and once I heard his voice I started balling again, which caused him to find my parents and he rushed over to help. My dad was able to give us all blessings before we left to help and then It took us only 30 minutes to get on the road to the hospital and we never could have done it without the help of all of our family. It took us seven hours to get to the hospital because of construction. Luckily Embree slept the entire way there. When we arrived at the hospital they rushed us back and did tests on Embree and took more x-rays. At the hospital they are able to work with the kids more to get better x-rays. After what felt like days, the doctor finally came in with the results. NO TUMOR AND NO CANCER! We breathed a sigh of relief but then he said, "but there is something that has us concerned." Her Thymus which was supposed to look like a sail on a sail boat, was very enlarged and mishapped, looking more like a giant pair. He told us the only treatment for that was time and it should adjust itself and shrink as she gets older.

Well after that which was about 11om we were able to go home, Embree was so exhausted and because of the adrenaline Jace and I were wide awake. We were going to stay with family if we needed to that night but decided that all we wanted to help us relax was to go home so we drove all the way back that night. After this ordeal, we thought that our only problems were going to be dealt around her thymus but all of a sudden she stopped everything. before all of this she was eating everything, sitting, rolling around, and was rocking on her knees. After all of this though she stopped everything, she just layed there and stopped eating. Well with a lot of help from physical therapists and occupational therapist and doctors it took her till she was two before she crawled and a few months later when she walked. She has also been very small being in the negative 15% for both height and weight up until a year and a half ago when she finally started eating and her thymus finally started shrinking. We had her looked at and x-rayed by about every doctor in primary children's to try to figure out why she stopped everything and finally found that it was caused by massive phobias created because of the ordeal that we had. The one problem she never had was speech, she talked full sentences at one years old.

Well through a lot of work and effort to get over these phobias, yes she is six now, she is finally 100% potty trained, she is eating a lot more then crackers which was her only diet for almost two years and pedia sure with that, she now loves every fruit, corn, peas, and carrots in the vegetables, almost every kind of carb you can think of (pasta, breads, crackers), almost all the dairy items, but she is still a self proclaimed vegetarian, she will have nothing to do with meat at all. But this all only started when she was four and a half years old. She was still only wearing 24 month old clothes and at times could fit into 2t and 3t outfits but not many. When she started to eat she has grown a ton! She is now at a positive 25% for weight and height for her age and is almost as tall as any other six year old out there. If you were to look at her now you would never know that she has gone through any ordeal and ever had any problems (other then eating). We love her to death and are grateful and blessed everyday by the gift of life she has brought with her.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Memories


Well, I am pondering the happenings of six years ago. I question myself, am I really that old, where did the time go, and have I been the best that I could be? These questions all fall on the subject of our sweetheart and light of our lives, Embree Anne Thompson.

At exactly 1:17am today our little baby will be six years old! Wow, how time flies! I still feel like it was yesterday when we went into the hospital, and through all the complications and misgivings we were blessed with this beautiful child. From the moment we saw her, we were changed for the better. She has had many hard times in her life that have challenged her physically, mentally and emotionally; and yet she has turned out to be a sweet, loving, fun little girl.

She is turning six and is already calling herself old, her comment to me this morning was"mom, it is hard being old, you have to do a lot of things and that makes me tired. It is hard being old, so hard!" If she is old and is only six what does that make the rest of us I wonder? She loves school and can't wait till she is home and able to do her homework! For Christmas all she wanted was crayons and a case that had crayons, markers, colored pencils, scissors, and glue so that she could do her homework. We just hope this love of homework last through the rest of her life.

She is the life of our little family and the joy of our lives. We can't believe that she will be six, but have enjoyed every minute that she has been with us, and look forward to the future with her. We LOVE you Embree!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Love,
Mom and Dad