On the mend

Micah slept all night even after sleeping for 7 hours yesterday! I went and spent the night with Maelea. She woke up at 5am with 102 degree temp. Then we slept some more. I left her sleeping and came up to the hospital to check on Micah. He is doing MUCH better today. Now he just needs to ... guess what... drink! We will be going home today though.

Unbelieveable!

Well, you will never guess this one. I got to go back to the ER for the 4th night in a row tonight!!! Maelea is sick and has been with Grandma and Grandpa Martin since yesterday. She was really lethargic and had a high fever and just all around wasn't our Maelea. Arlene took her in tonight at 6:50 to the pediatrician and she has the start of an ear infection and her breathing was really fast and sounded bad. She also threw up at the doctors office. Anyways, she needed a chest x-ray so I met them down in the ER. She does not have pneumonia. She is not feeling good at all! Micah just woke up (we had to wake him up) from a 7 hour nap! He is now watching Bob the Builder. He is feeling a little better I think. Before he went to sleep, he couldn't even sit up and was in a LOT of pain. He is now sitting in a chair and eating a banana. I am planning on going and spending the night with Maelea at Dan's parent's house after Micah goes back to sleep or at least settles down for the night.

Bronson Update

Micah slept all night last night and is doing ok. He went down to the playroom for a bit and then rode in a wagon for a while. He is not able to walk very much at all because his back hurts so much. He literally looks like a little old man when he stands up. It is probably all from the lumbar puncture. He is doing better than he was last night. He was dehydrated a little so the IV is helping with that which will also help with headaches. Basically, he is still just being observed. He had some tylenol a while ago. He is trying to take a nap right now. Not much to report on. I will keep you updated.

Back to the ER AGAIN... now he's admitted

Just a quick update. Micah has not done well all day today (Thursday) so I called the pediatrician this evening to get any hints as to what to do about his headache he now has. I thought it was completely from the spinal tap. Well, they said we had to go back to the ER!! I was NOT a happy camper. Anyways, they ended up admitting him because they don't know what to do with him. I came home to sleep for a bit and then go back up. Dan is there now. Micah has been lying down all day basically and when he does get up he is in terrible pain and his eyes still hurt. Good news though that his CRP level came down to 2.something as of a few hours ago. Anyways, I don't suspect we will be there very long but they wanted to observe him so we don't have to end up just going to the ER all the time. Ok, goodnight!

Back in the ER again

Well, last night, Micah and I spent the night in the ER again. He was saying his eyes were hurting all day yesterday and I didn't think anything of it. Then last night he was saying his neck hurt and holding it as well as covering his eyes totally and saying they hurt. I just looked up meningitis real quick because I had no idea what were the symptoms and that stinker was hitting all of them except for a seizure! He did well yesterday though besides that. His fever was under control with tylenol. So, I called the pediatrician and they said we should head back in just to make sure. Dr. Ham's office said the same thing. It was the longest night! Here's the quick version. He had blood work done and his CRP came back 6.0 and it was 0.4 the night before. This just simply means and inflammation SOMEWHERE. Then we had a lumbar puncture. I requested sedation don't worry. He ended up with another IV for it. Also, somehow in the process of drawing blood they didn't get enough the first time so they had to poke his finger and drip enough into a tube. It was so frustrating to watch. There was more on the bed and in the gauze than in the tube. I am running on less than 2 hours sleep at the moment. Anyways, his fluid looked just fine so they sent us home just in time for the day to start. Now Maelea is completely rested and ready for the day! UGH! I'll keep you posted.

Memorial Weekend Camping Update (1)

Well, I'm terrible but I took ZERO pictures this weekend. It was a fast weekend and I thought about the camera many times... but that's as far as I went. Both of the kids had a great time and have a nice tan. The weather was beautiful. The first night was very cold but we survived. It's a good thing I grabbed the heated blanked at the last second. Micah loved playing on the playground with the other kids. My Dad came out on Saturday and set up his own tent. It was a nice relaxing day for the most part. Dan and Kevin went fishing a few times. Micah spent almost the entire weekend barefooted! I don't know whose kid I have anymore. He has changed in a lot of ways. He also loved the merry-go-round on the playground. I really thought that would mess with his balance but it didn't. Micah also likes to cook. This is nothing new but he got Uncle Kevin to roast the PERFECT marshmallow for him. Then he didn't want to eat it! It was definitely funnier in person.

Fever Still

Well, I'm up! Micah has a 103 degree fever. I think it's finally starting to go down though. We are camped out in the living room so Daddy can sleep. Just thought I'd give a quick update.

ER Visit

Well, here's the quick story. On the way to the hospital, I picked my mom up to go with us. Good thing. We check in and I use the "he just had brain surgery" line to get us in faster. It worked I think. Micah was weighed and then had his first EVER rectal temperature taken. I honestly didn't think they even did that anymore since he has literally been to the doctors office and hospital hundreds of times. I was so mad at the lady who did it. She was not very gentle and I was ready for his belly button to poke out because she shoved it up there so far! Anyways, Micah ended up having to pee in a cup, have blood drawn, an IV put in, a chest x-ray, and the normal temperature, pulse ox, ears, and throat check done. His throat was big and yucky so they checked him for strep. It was negative. Everything looked ok in his blood except for the CRP was a little elevated. That just means there is some infection somewhere. His chest x-ray was good. His pee was good. One of his ear tubes is gone. It really is a good thing my mom went along because I didn't even think about possibly having an x-ray done or an IV put in. It took 5 people for the IV this time. Oh, I almost forgot, we tried to give him some motrin orally and he was fighting like none other. Well, we need to listen to him when he does this. He threw up immediately and I mean immediately. So, he had to have a tylenol suppository. Poor kid! Then a little while later, we tried the motrin again and it stayed down. His temp finally broke and he was feeling much better. They changed his antibiotic and sent us home. That is the short version for now.

Sick:(

Well, I had to go get Micah from school today and he has over a 102 degree fever. This is not good because now he HAS to be seen. It's probably nothing to do with the surgery but he still has to be seen. The pediatrician's office is booked all this evening and all day tomorrow so it would be Thursday before he could be seen. Anyways, we are headed to the ER just to make sure everything is ok. We had a great weekend camping and I will up date later on that.

Feeling Better... but

Now Micah has a bit of a cold. His urinary issues seem to be MUCH better. He has not complained at all since first waking up yesterday. I don't know if the medicine did the trick or what but we'll take it. This weekend we are supposed to go camping. I hope the weather warms up a bit though. Both Micah and Maelea are blowing their noses like crazy. I just picked up some Puffs Plus because Maelea's nose was super raw this morning already. That should help. Micah is excited to go camping but he keeps saying "later" for some reason. It's cute I suppose. I should have some pictures to post soon.

Update

We went to the doctor today and Micah still does not have a UTI. He is in pain every time he goes to the bathroom and was complaining of his back hurting today. He is pointing to an area that is actually lower than his kidneys. I guess this is good. He woke up this morning screaming in pain. Not a nice way to wake up. The doctor wanted to put him on a medicine that would actually numb his urinary tract for a couple of days so he would not hurt when he went so he would actually go more often. I think this is part of the problem, it hurts to go so he doesn't want to go. He really needs to go more and drink more but he is not doing that. He is too young for this medicine anyways so he can't be put on it. He is taking bactrum instead just to make sure there is not an infection somewhere. We got him a frozen cherry drink tonight and he drank quite a bit of it. The dinner went well tonight but Micah did not want to go near the water or the fire trucks. He did take a sticker from one of the firemen though. Also, I did talk to Dr. Ham's office (neurosurgery) and they did say it's normal for kids who have this surgery to not eat well for a while. Micah does seem to eat ok. In fact, he is back up to 30 pounds as of today! We just need to work on the drinking part.

Sorry

Sorry for the delay in posts. We have been really busy the past few days. Micah has been doing ok lately. He is back at school and really loveing it as usual. Micah has an unusual fear that we are just now figuring out. He is afraid of the wind. It is especially scary for him around the water. This past Saturday he was watching his Uncle Josh test out some of his student-made cardboard/duct tape boats and he had a really difficult time. I have also been hanging out clothes on the line to dry and he screams "NO MOMMY NO MOMMY!" It's very frustrating but we're working through it. I will post some more pictures soon! Tomorrow night we are going to be at the lake serving some local fire-fighters dinner. They are going to be doing some drills in the water. It will be interesting to see how he reacts.

2 years ago

Just a look from 2 years ago. We've come a long ways!!

Glasses

Well, Micah's eyes are straighter than they were before (without the glasses) but the Dr. thinks he still needs to wear them. He does fine with and without them. Micah was kind of bummed to have to wear them. He is doing fine though. Not too much to report on. The baby is fine. We are having another wonderful meal brought to us again tonight. I still feel so silly about this! It is sure good food though. Micah is going to ride home on the bus tonight so that should make him happy.

Eye Doctor Today

Well, today we are going to the eye doctor to see what to do about Micah's glasses. He will not wear them and I have not forced him to since I think his eyes have changed. I will let you know what we find out. I also have my 29 week baby appointment. Here is a picture of the kids from last night. They do like each other.

More Gifts!

Tonight some friends of ours, Carla and Melonie, stopped over with a few things for the kids. 5 BAGS OF THINGS! They were so excited... so were the kids:) There were even gifts from someone who we don't even know! How nice! Thank you Marlene. We have also been blessed with many wonderful meals from people. I feel so silly because Micah is actually better than he was before he had the surgery. Dan is not complaining about the food however:) Micah has received MANY cards in the mail from people and he really enjoys looking at them.

Back to School

Micah had a great first day back to school. He was so excited to go. He ran down the hall and straight into his class. He was always hesitant but not today. When I came to pick him up, he did not want to go and was trying to hide from me behind a sign. Yesterday at church he was great as well. He was talking to people and acting just fine. Not too much to write about, which I am thankful for.

Gone Fishing

Dan and Micah went fishing tonight in the canoe. Basically, Dan got a good work out because Micah did NOT want the canoe to stop moving. They did manage to "catch" a fish on the hook and see it but then it got away. From what Dan described, it was no bigger than an 8oz. block of cream cheese. That's what I was holding when he told me how big it was. We went to Meijer earlier to pick up a few things and Micah was not riding in the cart. This rarely happens. He was running all over the place! He was not being naughty though. He feels so good lately and has so much energy. I'm sure some people were wondering what was going on but I didn't really care. We would be at one end of the aisle and he would run full speed to the other end and wait for us. It was so refreshing to see. Dan planted some flowers for me for Mother's Day and Micah drowned... I mean watered them for me. I need to take a new picture of Micah's scar. It looks great!

Outside

The kids are really having fun outside right now. Micah has a coat on with the hood up, long pants and shoes on while Maelea has on no shoes, capri pants and a sleeveless shirt and no hat. They are quite different. Here is a much delayed picture.

Stitches are OUT!

Well, Micah had his stitches out today. Laura, the nurse, did an excellent job especially considering the circumstances. Micah was fine until he saw the scissors. How do you explain (to a 3 year old) that it's not going to hurt when someone is coming at you with scissors, especially when you haven't even seen any stitches?!! His incision looks great! We made a stop at the school to see his class afterwards. He was so excited and even did a project with the class. The kids were hugging him and it was so cute. There really is no reason he can't go back to school already except it just seems too soon. He can go next week though if everything goes well this weekend. I just still can't believe that he is doing so well so soon. He is having a small bowel issue that we need to watch but other than that, he is completely back to normal.

Another Good Day

Well, Micah had a really good day today again. He still hurts when he goes to the bathroom. He went for a couple of bike rides in the cart tonight with Daddy. We also went to the school playground for a while. He acts like nothing ever happened!! He was running and climbing all over the place. I forgot my camera.. SORRY! Tomorrow he gets his stitches out. Thank you Sara for the wonderful dinner tonight. Everyone loved it! We may try to stop by the school tomorrow and see his class after the stitches are out. I guess that's all for now.

No UTI

Well, Micah does not appear to have a UTI. Now I am wishing it was because we could just get antibiotics. He is a little inflamed down there. If it's not better by Monday then we get to go see a urologist. Let's just pray that he's just sore from the catheter. Otherwise, things are going great. I will post some pictures of the kids soon. They are outside with Daddy right now. Micah has a helmet on... just because he was using his skateboard!!!

Going to the Doctor

Well, we might have a little bump in the road, but minor. I'm pretty sure Micah has a UTI. It's from having a catheter most likely. It hurts when he goes to the bathroom and he has to run to get there without having an accident. Tomorrow he is supposed to get his stitches out. He slept great last night and did not have any tylenol. He's still sleeping actually. I guess that's all for right now.

First night home

Well, Micah had a rough night last night unfortunately. He was up and crying 3 times through the night. He didn't do that at the hospital. I don't know for sure why but he seems fine today. He is talking more than ever and it makes sense! He talked to Uncle Kevin on the phone and even said "Kepin" or something like that.

We're Home!

Sorry for the delay on the update. Things were very busy today. Micah is doing GREAT! We were in the van and out of there by 12:30pm today. That included cleaning and doing our linens at the Ronald McDonald house. Micah wanted to pull his wagon full of stuff. He walked all of the way to the van. We stopped on the way home at... McDonalds and Micah ate a good lunch. He gave us a scare and took a head dive off of his chair but Dan and I both caught him by an arm and a leg. We came home to a clean house thanks to Grandma Cutler and a meal all ready thanks to Grandma Martin. Papa Cutler and Great Papa Cutler and Barb came over tonight too. Micah and Maelea are acting like no time has gone by at all. They are back to playing like usual. Something was very funny in these pictures I guess.

Playing

Micah woke up a little before 10:00pm and had some more Tylenol. Then he ate some dinner: a banana, half of a cheese bread stick, and a couple of chicken nuggets with ranch of course. He did drink some orange drink after that but it had to be mostly his idea. Daddy and Micah are going to go for a walk and find something else to drink in a few minutes. We brought the play mat from his room and he is using it some to play on right now. You can also see how big the Bob the Builder poster really is. Micah is actually standing in this picture!

Going Good

We have had a very good day today. Micah had Tylenol at about 11:00am and has had nothing since. He played hard today with Daddy and walked a lot. His IV is turned off completely. He has been sleeping for 2.5 hours right now. His dinner is sitting here waiting for him to wake up. Usually waking up is the hardest because he has been lying down for so long. OT never did come see us today:( Dan and I went to the Ronald McDonald house for dinner tonight because Micah was sleeping. They had a Mexican meal. It was delicious!

Going home tomorrow!

Dr. Ham was just in and said Micah looks a lot better. They are going to turn down the IV and see if that will make him drink. The plan is to go home tomorrow unless something unforseen happens.

Incision Site

WARNING: I COULD NOT HIDE THE PICTURE. DO NOT LOOK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THE INCISION!!!





















Here is a picture of Micah's incision.

Teddy Bear Waffle

Micah had a good breakfast this morning. He ate all of his banana and a few bites of waffle and egg. Nothing to drink. We even ordered a chocolate milkshake. He is just hesitant to drink liquids. OT is coming in today to talk with us and hopefully give us some ideas for this. His bandage is now off. There is no good way to do this so they just literally ripped it right off. Dan and I both think it's less than 2 inches! I am just amazed. I will take a picture and post it so that you can see it IF you want to. I need to figure out how to post it so you have to click on it first because I know some people (Uncle Kevin) don't necessarily want to see it:)

Video Chat with Grandma Cutler

Micah got to see Grandma Cutler on the computer and talk to her on the phone at the same time. He thought that was SO cool!

Sister!

Maelea (and Grandma and Grandpa) came to visit today. Dan and I took Maelea to Subway for something to eat. It's really neat because you can go in between all of these hospitals through a tunnel system. Maelea got to ride in a wagon. When we got back, Micah wanted to pull Maelea in the wagon. This was cute for all 3-4 steps that he took. He is getting stronger but is very wobbly still.

Up and Eating

Micah ate a really good lunch today. He is sitting up in the chair watching... you guessed it, Veggie Tales. He is also playing with his Percy balloon. His eyes don't look the greatest in these pictures but Dan thinks it's because his neck is stiff and he's not moving his head. Grandpa and Grandma Martin are on their way to visit and bringing Maelea too. That should cheer him up a lot. Not a whole lot to report. Keep checking back!

Sleeping...........still.

Well, Micah slept great last night... and is still sleeping:) He did wake up at 6am an his head hurt pretty bad. He took some tylenol and is still sleeping. Dr. Ham was just in and wants to give it another day or two. Micah might have over done it yesterday just a little:) I just changed his diaper and bedding and he is still sleeping. He has been very good about going in the urinal the whole time so he hasn't really rested very well until last night. The constant IV drip keeps his bladder busy. Enjoy the beautiful day today!

Wagon Ride

Micah finally agreed to get into a wagon and go for a ride. He did not want to go at first. I think he was scared. Now I'm in the room updating and Grandma and Daddy are still walking around because he doesn't want to stop. Of course Larry had to go with us. :)

Fun with Dad

Micah is having fun pretending to kick Daddy away from his bed. He was really giggling and smiling. He is slowly working on eating his teddy bear waffle. Daddy ate the arms:)

Bandage

Here is a picture of Micah's bandage. It is honestly at least half as small as I thought it was going to be. We still haven't seen the actual incision but it must be less than 2 inches in length. Micah just ate about 6 bites of pancake and 6 bites of yogurt. He is sitting up in his bed watching a video.

Morning

We made it through another night. Micah did take in a few sips of orange pop. Interesting note, kids under 5 are not allowed to be served pop/soda by the cafeteria. (The nurse told me to go get some from the vending machine.) I just was surprised since they brought him some in the ICU. He had one more sip this morning but does not want more and says he does not want to eat. We ordered pancakes and eggs though just in case he changes his mind. Micah had morphine yesterday around 5pm and had tylenol this morning at 6am. He is being such a trooper. Honestly his stomach has hurt more than his head. His heart rate keeps dropping below 80 which sets off an alarm. No one seems concerned though but I just though I'd mention it since I had to listen to it all night:) My pool float cushion was WONDERFUL last night on top of the 2 inch thick cushion already provided by the hospital. Ok, so maybe I'm desperate for sleep but I slept ok. From the sounds of Micah, he needs more pain medicine. He will say "no" though. (I wonder where he gets that from?)...

Visitors!

We had quite the visitors tonight. Dan's cousin Rachel and her husband Rob surprised us totally and came to see Micah. Micah now has his very own Detroit Tigers jersey! How totally cool?! Thanks Rob and Rachel! After they left, Grandma and Grandpa Martin came and brought Aunt Jenni, Uncle Josh, Hannah, and Maelea. Micah was glad to see them. Uncle Josh brought a larger-than life... or at least larger than Micah sized poster (hand made) of Bob The Builder. It's so cool! Thank you Uncle Josh! Yesterday Jeremy and Amber and Gavin came and brought Micah a Curious George dressed as a doctor. We think he looks smarter with Micah's glasses on! Just a note on that, Micah's eyes appear (at least to Dan and me) to be straighter already. We are just going to take a break from the glasses for a while and see what happens.

Pancake!

Well, Micah has now eaten a pancake... and it's still in his stomach! He will absolutely NOT drink though. Daddy said he blew spit wads out of his straw but would not drink. We are in a new room on the 6th floor. We have decorated his window with pictures from friends and Grandma Cutler brought up a HUGE train balloon. We were a little bummed to find out that you have to be older than 3 to have a regular bed. So, Micah is confined to a crib. We do have a private room though which is really nice. Keep checking back!

Day After Surgery

Well, we are in a new room, but still in the PICU. They are doing some construction so we got to move around 4am this morning. Micah still has not eaten or taken any liquids at all. Around 3am we kind of made him swallow some tylenol but that only lasted a couple of seconds and then he got sick. He has been running a slight temp. The neurosurgeon "representatives" came in (of course in the 10 minutes I stepped out to go eat breakfast) and said Micah will be going to a regular room sometime soon. His arterial line is out now and his catheter will come out soon too. His incision looks good, from what they can peek from around the bandage. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be... which I am very glad for. We are going to play BINGO here in a while. Micah has watched Jonah again and the Ultimate Veggie Silly Song Countdown. I guess that's all for now. I will update more when I know more.

Upset Tummy:(

Well, no luck yet on the liquids. Micah has been really sick to his stomach and thrown up 3 times total. He has not taken any liquids. He is so scared to throw up. It probably hurts though so I don't blame him. He has watched Jonah and then another Veggie Tale later. He is sleeping again right now with the help of some morphine. He has a temp of around 100 and has since surgery on and off. They are not worried unless it goes a little higher. It is very normal for fevers after surgery. Other than that, he is swolen in his hands and feet but that should go down once he is up and around and moving more. You can see a little bit of swelling in the picture in his arms. He is normally so thin. Micah has an IV in his right hand, an arterial (sp?) line in his right hand, an IV in his left foot, and a catheter. He has been great with all of these and hasn't messed with them thank goodness. He also has a pulse ox monitor on his right hand finger and some other monitors on his chest that are just stuck on. He was watching some basketball of all things earlier tonight! Daddy is at the Ronald McDonald house right now hopefully sleeping some and Grandma Cutler is being stubborn and sleeping in the lobby. She doesn't want to leave:)

Smile!

Well, we have our first smile for the camera. I asked Micah if he could smile for me and he sort of did but then I asked him if he could smile for Miss Tracy and he REALLY smiled. Miss Tracy is his teacher and he really likes her:) Daddy just went to get the Jonah Veggie Tales video that Micah now wants to watch. He did not forget! I am amazed right now how well he is doing. Now he just needs to start taking in some liquids. He had a little "clearing" of his stomach a few minutes ago so maybe now he will try something.

He's Awake

Micah is awake and watching some TV actually. He is in some pain but seems ok. He was very pale so they drew some labs to check his hemoglobin. They did this even before we saw him. He was somewhat pale but probably not too bad. I told them that he was a little pale but he has my skin color too so it wasn't that bad. Also, his hands and feet are pretty swolen, enough that they had to take his ankle band off because it was too tight. His first words were "where's Mama?" He was asking for Grandma because she was actually with him when he went to sleep. I just slipped away for a few minutes to eat and update the blog. I should get going. I will keep updating and add a picture soon. He really does look good for what he went through.

More explaination

Ok, a little anatomy lesson here. Micah had what are called tonsils "hanging" 8mm below his skull. The doctor said this is inactive tissue. They opened the dura (the lining of the brain) and removed some tissue. They patched this with a patch of some sort. We are all sitting here and can't remember what but it doesn't really matter. I just thought it would be interesting. His cerebral spinal fluid is flowing well right now so this should make a huge difference. I will update later with more information.

Surgery is DONE!!!

We just talked to Dr. Ham and everything went wonderful! We haven't seen him yet though. They took about a 50 cent piece size of skull out. I can explain more later but he said everything went great. He is in recovery right now and we can see him when he goes to ICU. He strongly emphasized that Micah will be in a LOT of pain for a few days. I am very relieved that it's over.

Going into Surgery

Surgery begun around 9:00am this morning. It was a rough morning emotionally but Micah did great! He is all excited to watch the Jonah Veggie tale movie when he wakes up. Grandma wanted you to know she was up all night working so she looks tired in the picture. We all just ate breakfast and are feeling much better. Pastor Ray, Papa Cutler, and Grandma Cutler are all here with Mommy and Daddy. I will update when we have an update.