Doesn't it Annoy You When...

...somebody blogs about their infant son being hospitalized and then NEVER comes back to update you on his status? Yeah, I agree...totally annoying..
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Well, since I am not one of those annoying bloggers *cough*...I would like to update you now...
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...but before I do, I have a bit of an editorial note. In my last post I told my friend Aleasha that there was a certain doctor working at the hospital that night that I thought she may be interested in. As it turns out, I confused a lot of people with my comment. You see, the doctor that I told Aleasha would totally be her type is actually her husband, and the father of her two beautiful daughters. When I wrote the last post Aleasha was out of town visiting her family in the far off land of Texas...so I thought I was being so hilarious by mentioning that I saw him that night in my, only funny to me, way.
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Oy...I hate it when my attempts at humor confuse, rather than amuse...
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So, anyway...my friend Aleasha is home from the wilds of Texas...so I would like to say to her, "Welcome Home, Aleasha. I missed you and I hope never to see your husband on a professional level ever again."
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Okay, the first thing that I want to tell you is that Little John told me that he adores me.



Well, he didn't say, "Mom, I adore you." in so many words, per se...
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But, when he flashes me sweet smiles like these...I think his feelings are definitely implied.


I am in love.

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So, the official diagnosis that caused John to be hospitalized those many weeks ago was, "acute viral pneumonia"....

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...which progressed about a week after his hospitalization into a case of bacterial pneumonia.

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I am still not speaking to John's disobedient lungs.

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The doctors said that his reflux problems combined with his very weak preemie lungs (his official lung diagnosis is, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) ) make it very easy for him to contract pneumonia. A lot of times when he has a reflux episode he will aspirate (fancy schmancy word for fluid being forced into his lungs) on the refluxed fluid. The fluid grows bacteria easily and can take him from a viral infection to a bacterial one in record breaking time.

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John's lungs never do anything halfway.

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...except help him breathe...

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oh, that little ol' thing called breathing.

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The thing is...unless you undress John and look at his little chest contracting deeply into his body, you would never know that he has pneumonia. Most days, he seems like the happiest little clam on the beach, and for that, I am truly grateful. The running family joke is, "Someone forgot to inform the baby that he is sick." Just the other day, John was laying on a blanket kicking his little legs with great vigor and babbling and cooing happily. I jokingly said to him something along the lines of, "Son, you mustn't exert yourself like this...you have pneumonia, remember?" To which he paused briefly to treat me to a lovely gummy grin, and then began his low impact aerobics regimen again.

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I had a hard time with being a bit teary during the last hospital visit. I have mentioned in previous posts that John has inherited my lousy veins...our veins roll away once the needle is inserted into the skin or they, "blow" easily, meaning that because they roll away sometimes the nurse or phlebotomist will accidentally puncture both sides of the vein and cause it to bleed out into the arm so that the blood can't be collected...

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Oh...sorry...was that too much information about blood?

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I'll wait if you are feeling lightheaded...

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So, anyway it is very difficult to draw his blood. I told the nurse that was assigned to him that she needed to call the IV team so that he wouldn't have to be poked repeatedly. She told me that she just wanted to, "take a look" and I told her that I really preferred she just call. She left the room and I assumed that she went to do my bidding.

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John's hospital room had a bathroom in it and after I went to use the facilities, I came out to find his nurse assisting a nurse that I hadn't seen before in drawing John's blood. I asked if "Stranger Nurse" was from the IV team and John's original nurse said sheepishly, "No, but she is so good."

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I gulped back tears when I looked down at John as he screamed helplessly. I told them that if she missed his vein I wanted the IV team like I had ORIGINALLY asked for. A moment later, "Stranger Nurse" muttered to, "Original Nurse", "It blew."

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Guilt that I hadn't told them to stop right when I exited the bathroom, and extreme anger washed over me. "Stranger Nurse" told me that she thought she could still get enough blood. She then began milking his arm...much like you would a cow's udder...and held the test tube up to the injection sight to collect his blood. I cringed as I thought about the bruising she was causing. John was screaming and staring at me with heartbreaking, pleading eyes. I protested, telling "Stranger Nurse" that I was certain that, even though she was collecting enough blood to fill the test tubes that it would probably be unusable because, for some reason, if you massage the injection sight in any way it crushes the blood cells in such a way that it can give a false result of high potassium in the blood. (High potassium is indicative of serious kidney problems). I knew this because in the past the nurses had done heel pricks to collect blood since it was so hard to draw blood from John's veins...but because they had to squeeze the heel repeatedly to collect the blood sample it crushed the blood cells and gave a false positive result for high potassium. I don't know a lot, but I knew the blood sample had to be a straight shot from vein to test tube.
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So, while the squeezing and screaming was going on, a different stranger walked into the room and told me she was from, I think it was called, "Patient and Family Services." and was wondering if the baby needed anything like rattles, toys or a mobile. Before I could answer, Stranger Nurse (still milking John's arm) told her that maybe the baby would like a rattle or some toys. Truth be known, I think Stranger Nurse just wanted her to leave, or to distract me, or both.
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John continued to sob and then the, Patient and Family Services- or whatever it was called- lady comes back into the room and began, I kid you not, shaking a rattle right in John's face as he wailed and kept repeating in a high pitched tone, "It's okay, baby...look at the rattle!!"
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Seriously...it was all I could do not to hiss at her, "Girl, if you don't want me to cram that rattle down your gullet you had better just turn on your heels right now, and walk out of here."
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I managed something along the lines of, "I'll show him the toys later...he's a little preoccupied right now."
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The thing is...I don't want to bust anybody's chops...I realize that the doctors and nurses are doing the best that they can and that, for the most part, they give their very best effort. I understand that it is hard to know how to care for each individual...and that modern medicine is not an exact science. I get that it is terribly inconvenient to have to wait on the IV team when you draw blood successfully all day long and feel confident that you can take care of things in a timely manner...but I feel like John's extreme distress could have been avoided.
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Let me just say, that if John is hospitalized again...heads are gonna roll if the IV team is not contacted immediately. My #1 job is to be John's advocate and I really feel I failed him during his last hospitalization.
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Aleasha's husband...I will refer to him as, Dr. Josh, told me later that night that John's blood work showed an elevated potassium level...
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Imagine that.
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Well, I want to switch gears right now and give an update and the rest of my little family...
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Did you know that I actually have other children?
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Don't feel badly...how could you have known I have other children? I never mention the poor dears, do I?
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Many people have asked me how the older boys feel about John and how they are doing. I am so thrilled that they adore Little John so much. There has not been jealousy that caring for John takes a lot of time away from home because of frequent doctor appointments. They have expressed some discouragement that we can't go places like we used to, though. The doctors have warned us that until RSV season is over in April that the baby should only leave the house for doctor appointments and then return immediately home because his lungs are so weak. The other day Adam asked if we could go bowling when it was his turn to choose the activity for Family Home Evening and he seemed a little let down when we had to remind him of the doctor's orders. A few weeks ago, Evan asked excitedly, "Where are we going for Thanksgiving?" and I pointed over my shoulder and said, "Into the dining room." He then asked in a disappointed tone, "Aw...we aren't going to visit anybody in Virginia?" It isn't fun for the boys to be home bound and for us not to be able to have many visitors (the doctor told us less visitors means less potentially harmful germs and infections) but I keep reminding them that if you have to be at home...being with a sweet baby brother is the way to go...and that April is just around the corner.
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Mike continues to keep us happy and sane with his sense of humor. The other day he held up little John's arm and shook it at the older boys as if John was motioning to them and pretended that John was making outlandish requests like, "Bring me a million dollars servants." Everyone cracked up at John's little fist being waved at them and Brian said, "I don't have a million dollars" to which Mike made John say, "Guards! Guards! Arrest this man...I am King John and my requests will not be ignored." Mike continued to pretend that John was making outlandish requests and Kingly decrees and when the boys told him they could not deliver what King John demanded he would call out again, "Guards! Guards! Take this man away! Throw him in my dungeon."
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Okay, I guess you had to be there...but we were delirious from laughter.
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I woke up from a nap the other day and asked Mike where the baby was. (I was still in bed and just wanted to know if John was still napping or if one of the boys was holding him.) Mike said dryly, "I don't know where he is." Knowing Mike was teasing I asked in a suspicious tone, "You don't know where our baby is?" and he replied flatly, "Well, when he got into the van and peeled out he didn't say where he was going."
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You see what I am dealing with?
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I took this picture of Mike and John at a really close range in hopes of capturing how John inherited Mike's long eyelashes. Too bad you can't really determine the length of their eyelashes and it just kind of looks looks like I am looming over top of them and am preparing to pounce on them like they are my unsuspecting prey.

Earlier in the school year Brian came home and told me that he wasn't feeling well. I took his temperature and when the thermometer read 102 degrees I decided to take him into the pediatrician that afternoon. On the way to the doctor's office Brian asked me tearily if they were going to, "Choke him with that stick?" and I told him that I did think that they would have to swab the back of his throat to see if he had strep throat. When he heard that he started to cry because he hates having his throat swabbed. The strep test came back negative but the pediatrician said she wanted to test for Influenza. Brian was listless on the exam table and had actually dozed off by the time they came to swab for Influenza. He was awakened by the nurse telling him she was going to swab inside his nose. (I didn't realize that they test for Influenza by swabbing high up into the patient's nostril) He started to cry because he said it hurt his nose. (It did look pretty jarring). After the nurse left to run the test Brian cried weakly, "I'm being tortured." It was kind of sad. When the pediatrician told me that he had tested positive for Influenza A and that it was most likely the swine flu. (I'd have to take him over to the ER and he would have to actually be admitted to the hospital for them to test specifically for swine flu) I started to cry immediately as I envisioned having another near death experience with a child (Well, if you count having a preemie as a near death experience). This happened early in the school year and I did not realize at that time that the swine flu was not as serious as the medical community originally thought it would be. The doctor said that she felt that it would be best if she treated the entire family for the swine flu because it could be deadly for little John.

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That's when Mike had a near death experience. His heart was barely able to handle the $50.00 a person price tag of Tamiflu for every member of the family. (Besides John)

Let's see...what else is going on with Brian...he informed me several months ago that he doesn't want to brush his teeth anymore because he wants them to get, "All wobbly" so they would finally fall out and he could get some money from the Tooth Fairy. It is going to be a wonderful day when his teeth finally start falling out of his head.

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On September 22nd, Atlanta and the surrounding areas experienced some severe flooding. We were about 2 1/2 hours away from the flooding and damage but I was very concerned about Adam being frightened when he heard about it. He has been petrified about severe weather ever since our family had this experience.
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When Evan got home from school he told me that they had heard in class that Six Flags Over Georgia (an amusement park in Atlanta) was, "under water". I told Evan that Adam had probably heard about the flooding but not to mention it if he hadn't.

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So, when and Brian and Adam got home I expected to have to field questions about the flooding and try and quell Adam's fears about it possibly flooding here.

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I was thrilled when Adam said nothing about it and that the sun was shining brightly at our house.

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Until...as he was eating his after school snack Brian piped up and said, "Hey mom...you know that place with all of the roller coasters?"

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I glanced at Adam out of the corner of my eye and he didn't seem to be listening so I said quietly to Brian, "Yes..."

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Brian announced loudly, "Well, it's drowned."

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Of course Adam began asking, "It's what...what drowned? Who drowned?"

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Thank you, Brian. (why did the first grader know about the flooding and not the 4th grader?)
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Brian was right, though...Six Flags was drowned.

I spoke at length with Adam about everything being okay and that I was confident that flooding wouldn't start here. I had to give myself my own little pep talk, though, because Mike has one out of town conference a year and it began on the 24th this year (two days after the Atlanta flooding). On the morning of the 24th when a heavy rain began to fall I found myself wondering if I should put some of John's oxygen tanks in the back of the van just in case...or if I should order some extra tanks in the event that we had to flee. It didn't even rain very long that morning but I have to admit that those thoughts did cross my mind at first...I tend to be a bit of an alarmist.
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Adam ran for Vice President of the student body this year and really worked hard on his campaign. He was disappointed that he didn't win but we tried to explain to him that with 9 kids running for the same position meant that the votes were very spread out and that he didn't need to worry that his peers didn't like him. (That was his original fear.)
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The candidates were only allowed to have one poster each (all of the candidates' posters were displayed together by the lunchroom)...so Adam worked very hard at making his memorable by using bright colors. When we found this red pair of plastic oversized scissors at the Dollar Store his campaign slogan was born, "Adam Marshman is a cut above the rest!"

I was hoping that having Brian as his campaign manager (Adam told Brian, "Tell your friends they'd better vote for me.") and the good fortune of strategically placed Mormons in the school would work in our favor but victory wasn't to be. Adam said that for some reason only the 3rd through 5th graders voted in this election...thus knocking out Brian and his bullied friends' votes and most of the Mormon contingency. (I have not been able to confirm that only grades 3rd through 5th voted but both Brian and Adam insist that that is the case.)
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Adam hand wrote these little stickers for his friends to wear. He came out and told me that he chose the colors red and black because most of his friends are UGA fans (University of Georgia) and he knew they would like them because red and black are UGA's colors, even though he is a Hokie. Way to know your political demographic, son.

The other day I was walked into the kitchen and couldn't remember what I was about to do. (I have that problem frequently it seems.) I said out loud, "What was I about to do?" and without missing a beat Adam said, "You were about to bow down to me." I laughed out loud as I stared at his smirking face. I love it when my boys' humor catches me off guard. Adam catches me off guard more and more lately.

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Here we see, "His Majesty Adam whom I should bow down to" holding John at one of his doctor appointments.
Evan continues to play the trumpet in the middle school band and really loves it. Several weeks ago the middle school band played for the grand opening of the new Food Lion (grocery store) in town. I have no idea why this makes me giggle every time I think about it. I just think it is hilarious that they played for a grocery store grand opening. Among the rousing selections that the band played at the Food Lion grand opening was, "Low Rider". I am still laughing about that. .
The 7th grade band also plays, "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister and, "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne.

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Evan's band teacher is single for any of my single blog friends that may be interested.

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Okay, I am so mad right now I could scream. I tried to post the song, "Low Rider" on this post and it wiped out the rest of Evan's pictures that I was going to put at the bottom of this post. I tried to re-upload them and drag them down to the bottom of the post to where they belonged but it isn't working. Grrrrrrrrrrr, snarl, growl, sputter...........Now I need to finish this post, which is already too long, in an entirely different post....grrrrrrrrrrrrr.