Day 38 of recovery

8/7/14

Day 38 of recovery

The last couple of days have been extremely busy.  My birthday was on Tues, the big “50” but my kids had no idea since I have been 37 since I was actually 37, haha!  Tyson had 4 doctor appointments that day & Alexa had 1.  Ty got up & took Tyson to his 1^st appointment while I got ready then I took him to the rest of them.  We had a break & decided to go get something to eat & do some grocery shopping.  We started out trying to find a Target & added a place to eat into my GPS.  She kept taking us to places that were really crowded like malls & parts of town that we didn’t really want to get out of our car, we passed a topless bar a couple of times.  We ended up driving around for over an hr being lost with our lovely GPS but we were able to see lots of different lovely things in St. Paul, MN.  A few of them we saw over & over again, haha!  My GPS really has a sense of humor.  I think she could tell I was lost & started saying things like, “Turn left after the big brown bldg. on the left,” & “Turn rt after the big glass library on your rt.”  No kidding, she really did say those things, haha!!  While we were having our adventures Ty & Chelsea took Alexa to get her picc line out.  They all took the shuttle over there.  Things didn’t go as smoothly as Alexa hoped, the nurse had to go get someone to help & it hurt but she is finally free of it!!  I feel like Tyson’s appointments went really well except 1.  All of the doctors are convinced that he is having these headaches because he is so tense & PT is showing him several ways to relax & the psychologist has given him lots of breathing exercises to help relax.  The only one I felt was a waste was going to the TMJ specialist.  I don’t believe he clenches his jaw much & I don’t think the specialist thinks that either, he really just wanted to rule that out I guess.  These doctors see people with headaches like this very often & they work as a team.  I feel like this is part of the reason we were led to come here, so Tyson could get some help too!!  We finished there & got back to the RMH right at dinner time.  Guess who joined us for dinner, Ronald McDonald himself!!!  We felt so honored, haha!!  That night RMH had a party in the park across the street.  First they had pet therapy & Alexa was in heaven!  She loved this huge dog that came & stuck with him till they left.  When the dog finally left she joined the party.  They were making colored chalk bombs & having chalk wars.  I was really surprised when one of the workers convinced Alexa to join in the chalk wars.  She was covered!!  After that Chelsea had a little bday party for me.  She passed out some very annoying & loud horns & had some extra so gave some to the kids around the house, I’m sure their parents were so happy about that!  Austin & Ann Clements came to the sitting room & we had Chelsea’s homemade zucchini bread that she had brought me in her suitcase & played Taboo.  Shayla got into the airport at 12:30 that night & Chelsea went with Ty to pick her up. 

Wed we decided to go to the Minnesota zoo.  We were able to get free tickets thru RMH which was wonderful since it is $18 a piece to get in!  Tyson had a dr apt that morn at 10 so I took him to that 1^st & when we got back we headed out.  It was a really good day & we loved this zoo.  We were able to get up close to so many of the animals.  Alexa really enjoyed it till the very end when she started feeling very sick & her meds were wearing off.  We had gotten her a wheelchair but she only used it about half the time.  We got home & she was totally wiped out & took a little nap while we ate dinner.  We were all really tired so just watched a movie.  Today we are planning on going to Mall of America again & we are looking for a fun cruise on the river, that’s what Alexa wants to do.  It’s been a lot of fun having Chelsea & Shayla here with us even though our apartment is very small & we are all squished in here.  They ended up putting their air mattresses out on the deck since there literally was no room in here.  They said it was actually really nice out there.  They have all loved playing down in the game room together. Alexa is doing pretty well since going to 12 hr feeds on her tube.  She has been eating a bit more, I guess we’ll see how well when we go back to the dr.

Youtube videos:

http://youtu.be/_GORYJDnQpw  Alexa with Dogs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNzRfELCx0Y  The big birthday party

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKEnsFw976A  Just Dance    

Alexa getting Chelsea addicted to her favorite game 

Alexa's favorite dog

Ronald McDonald was our special guest that night

Alexa is always in heaven when the dogs come!

Chelsea finally found her true love!!!

                                         

                                        Austin joined the guys for frisbee

                                                            

            

Alexa surprised us by joining in the chalk wars

Austin & Alexa decorating cupcakes

The loud annoying horn blowers, haha!!

As you can tell, Ty doesn't have his glasses on for our Taboo game, haha!!

Jerry, the RMH dog, joined us for dinner

Lady Bug

Penguins 

Alexa gave up her wheelchair to push Tyson!!

We needed a shower

Notice how far ahead Alexa is, we couldn't keep up!!

Our favorite was the swimming bear!!

Tyson having a stare down

Day 35 of recovery

8/4/14

Day 35 of recovery

Today we made a lot of progress!  Alexa had 3 doctor appointments, one with the pain doc, GI & Endo.  This morn she had a horrible time trying to get out of bed as she was still feeling the flu symptoms left from being on the Gabapentin.  She woke up for a bit about 10 & ate a little & then fell back to sleep.  We finally convinced her to get up about noon & told her we would walk to Burger King, which is about a mile.  We weren’t really too excited about going there again, just mainly needed to get her out to walk.  We got back in time to get ready to go to the doctor appointments.  Dr. Clavel, the pain dr said we will start cutting back on the pain meds next week.  He wanted to now but Alexa really had quite a bad attack during the night so he decided to give it 1 more week.  Dr. Bellin, the endo, was quite pleased with her blood sugars still & lowered the insulin again!!  It’s exciting to see the islets start working on their own in their new home!!!  Next we saw the GI dr & he said she could go to 12 hr feeds on the tube!!!! YAY!!!  She does have to eat more protein though, in her bloodwork the protein was low.  Chelsea is flying here & will be here around 12:30 tonight.  She is bringing my Blendfresh that I ordered & I will start making smoothies for her every day.  She’s not too thrilled about that but she’ll survive.  The others who have had the surgery here have only been on 12 hr feeds for a few days & then get off completely so hopefully she will do the same.  We got back just in time for dinner & then Ty had his complementary haircut here at the RMH.  They are so nice here & had girls come in to cut hair & do nails free!  They also had a water party out in the backyard but the kids didn’t want to participate so they went to Austin’s room & played a game with him & this other guy named Tyler who is 18 & had the same surgery.  The rest of the night they spent in the game room. 

Back at home everyone is partying without us!  Our house is still being used as the Rowley Inn, just like it usually is when we are there.  It is making us more homesick than ever to know everyone is there without us!  Ty’s parents got there last Thurs night.  They came there so Ty’s Dad could have surgery on his nose to get the cancer out of it.  He ended up being able to have the surgery on Fri & it went really well!!  Marvin & LaRee called us yesterday & asked if they could sleep there with their 3 grandkids.  They slept in Tyson & Alexa’s rooms.  Then we found out that Merlin was coming to stay for a week while he has surgery & he slept in the living room.  I guess our house is the Rowley Inn Recovery Center, haha!!  Too bad Alexa can’t join all the sickies & have some company!  Sunday we also found out the Tiff & Tonya’s families along with Lin & Chelsea were all going to our house to have a BBQ.  Nice way to make us feel a bit more homesick, huh?  At least our house is getting some good use.    Tomorrow Tyson has 3 appointments & Alexa has an appointment to get her picc line out!  YAY!!!  I am so excited about that but she is really nervous!

Day 34 of recovery

8/3/14

Day 34 of recovery

We haven’t been doing as much the past couple of days except the activities around Ronald McDonald House.  Fri we stayed here all day & cleaned the apartment & did laundry.  I went to the office & talked to them about getting a bigger room or another one while Chels & Shayla are here but they don’t have any available so it looks like we will be rather cozy!  We survived 3 weeks in our little camper with 6 kids on the church history tour one time so I guess we can make this work.  They do have mattresses we can use so we’ll find a place to put them.  That night was pizza night & we had some super heroes show up to serve it!  These guys were awesome!  We all spent lots of time down in the game room & also Tyson & Alexa played Ticket to Ride with Austin.  We bought that at Mall of America when we went. 

Sat we spent more time in the game room.  Alexa wanted to go back to Dressbarn so I took advantage of that, anything to get her out & about, walking around!!  Ann Clements wanted to go with us so Ty & Tyson decided to stay here with Austin & spent their time in the game room mostly.  Alexa actually had enough energy to try on some pants & ended up buying some shorts & VERY skinny jeans.  She’s so skinny that the size 4 clothes she bought are baggy on her.  I didn’t want her to get smaller though cuz I figure she will be putting on some pounds once she starts to feel better.  I had to buy some new shirts while we were there!  I don’t know what I was thinking only bringing 7 shirts, I’m so tired of them already.  After that we went to Famous Footwear since Alexa insisted on buying shoes to go with her skinny jeans.  It was “buy one get one ½ off” so I HAD to get a pair too!!  We got back to RMH & walked in & we were assaulted with a horrible smell!!  The people that were cooking that night had burned the dinner.  When they got it all laid out it looked really good, it was a taco bar.  We figured they had thrown out the burned part so we decided to eat there.  It would have been good except they hadn’t thrown out the burnt part & the meet tasted horrible.  I ended up taking Tyson to Burger King so the poor boy wouldn’t starve to death!  Tyson hasn’t been bored while he’s been here.  He found out they have a piano in the school room & when he wants to play they let him in there.  He also has been working out in the gym & spending lots of time in the game room & with Austin. 

Alexa’s blood sugars have been pretty near perfect.  She has been complaining that she doesn’t get enough sleep so I emailed Dr. Bellin, the endocrinologist, & she said since Alexa is doing so well we could skip one of the middle of the night blood sugar checks, yay!!!  Today Alexa didn’t go to church with us.  I believe she is having a very bad reaction to some meds she is taking.  I spent part of the day researching the ones she is on & we have decided to take her off of 2 of them that make us rather nervous.  I was finally able to get her out a bit at noon & then she fell asleep again.  About 3 she finally got up to take a shower & then we went to the game room & to eat then took a walk around the park.  Tyson is a big hit in the game room with all the little kids, they all love to play games with him. 

Here's some videos on youtube:

http://youtu.be/bkUz5rCd7fc  Alexa grooming horse

http://youtu.be/vKVX4L4BBdU  Bingo at RMH

http://youtu.be/dOhRLMNeUdo  Ty & Tyson in game room at RMH

Super Hero night at RMH 

Ty & Tyson's new work buddy

Captain America asked to be in the pic

Tyson has developed Gma Rowley's talent & has gotten 5 stuffed animals out of here! Good thing we don't have to pay to use it, we would be out hundreds of dollars!!

Alexa's favorite game & notice her new shoes

They spend hours here in this game room!

This is the gym where we should spend hours, haha!!

Laundry room next to the gym

This is another game room but the kids like the one by our apartment better

This is the craft room, I'm sure Maelie would be in heaven here!!

Dinner! Notice all of my nice veggies on that 1st plate!!

On our walk with Austin

Tyson was a hit with all the kids.  Ty says they were all lined up to play games with him