Mallory is still vomiting today. No new tests, just resting. She has requested no visitors for tomorrow...she's not up to seeing people right now. However, she loves getting cards and balloons. You can mail them to her home address, and someone can carry them up to her.

Mallory has continued to vomit today, for the second day. Several doctors came by, and pretty much told them that they still aren't sure what's going on.

Mallory had a pretty good night last night, not the best ever, but better. However, today she has vomited all day. I could hear her again while talking on the phone to my mom. Other than that, no new news to report.

Mallory had a biopsy today, and is feeling pretty good. She didn't sleep last night, but is hoping that tonight goes better!

First of all, Sparticus is the name of a character on the kid's show Lazy Town, except on that show he's calls Sport-icus (big sigh of relief).

Second, Addison's surgery went off without a hitch. For starters, Addison never even mentioned food today at all. This was definitely an answered prayer...she wakes up every morning and asks (without fail) what is for breakfast. Today, I was prepared with every form of Jello I could come up with, and she never even asked for it, nor a drink! She wasn't allowed to drink after 10:15 because her surgery was scheduled for 1:15. Naturally, they didn't even come to get her until after 3, but like I said, she never complained.

She was away from us for about an hour, then we got to go into recovery with her. I was apprehensive about not being able to go back with her, but the hospital had a child life advocate come out and talk with us and explain everything that was going on. If anyone ever has to take their child to the hospital for anything, definitely ask for an advocate (the nurses tend not to offer this assistance, but when you ask for it they are more than happy to give it to you). This is the second time we've used one, and it truly makes all the difference. Coming out from the anesthesia, she cried for about 30 minutes. The first thing she said to me was "(sob) I (sob) want (sob) a (gasp) doughnut!" So I knew she'd be fine. And she is...she really doesn't even recall anything, and is having very little pain.

Mallory had a pick line put in today. This will make her IV usage much more user friendly! Still no biopsy, maybe tomorrow. Today's good news is that they lowered her fluid intake at night. This means she doesn't have to visit the lady's room so much during the night. Up until now she has been having to get up at least every hour. As a result, my mom was having to get up with her to unplug her from one of her machines, and wheel the other one behind her. Last night, Mallory only had to get up once! Which means she got more sleep, which means she was a much happier camper today. We went up to see her and she looked good ... let's hope this continues!

I think I can breathe again...I've been waiting for this day to be over!

Addison

I am going to take a short break from Mallory to talk about Addison (except to say that Mallory's biopsy has been moved to Wed.).

1. Addison's surgery is scheduled for 1:15 tomorrow. She can't eat anything after tonight, and can't drink anything after 10:15 in the morning. It's going to be a long morning.

2. Last night she came home with an imaginary friend...named Spartacus.

Mallory

The CT scan Mallory had done yesterday showed some cysts on her lungs. Tomorrow she should undergo a biopsy on her lungs as well as her legs. She's still not sleeping. At some point this week they should put a pick line in to help with her IV's. They think they're circling in on a diagnosis, so hopefully we'll know something concrete soon.

When I got here today, Mallory was in a great mood. Seemed to be feeling pretty good, even joking. Apparently that was just the morphine talking. She went down for an MRI, and that went really well. She was able to remain still through the whole thing, and got some good pictures. Then her IV couldn't be put back in, and things went downhill from there. She's resting now, and hopefully her mood gets better! Still no concrete results...they're saying now that she might come home the end of next week.

Mallory was able to eat a little bit today, which is great news. She had her second round of MRI's, but has not heard back on their results. Her infection does not appear to be spreading, so everything is looking up!

Mallory has a new infection , and they have put her on antibiotics to combat this. Her 36 hour flu is over, and she is in a MUCH better mood today. They're trying to wean her off of the morphine. I say she has more color in her face, she says she's just flushed. Also, her liver functin is returning to a normal level, although it's not quite there, yet.

Apparently Mallory has come down with the flu. She was vomiting all last night and today as of 6 pm. Most tests have been postponed until she's feeling better.

Mallory just got out of her MRI. They had to give her anesthesia in order to do it. Dad tells me that she had a temperature of over 104, which would indicate yet another infection.

Mallory, Sunday

Mallory had a really good day yesterday, then a really terrible night. As a result, she has had a pretty bad day today. She hurts all over, and is also very nauseous. She's was in a pretty bad mood today until they got her drugs to her. Then she'd be all right for about 15 minutes. Mallory has been unable to eat, so they've started giving her nutrients through her IV. She did drink an ensure, though. They're doing more tests tomorrow, so she needs to sleep tonight. They have narrowed the cause of these problems to one of two things, and the scans tomorrow should provide some answers.

Mallory, Saturday Night

I just got off the phone with my dad...and the information has changed somewhat. Sorry about that, but it seems we're kept in a slight fog about what is going on. The liver specialist spoke with them, and Mallory's liver function is at a 900. A normal person's is around 200. Being the liver specialist, he only really commented on that organ, but apparently other organs have been affected. Now we're back to thinking that this was brought on by the medication change. Mom and Mal should be able to come home by the end of next week. However, the doctor said Mallory will not be able to return to school until after Spring Break.

Mallory, Saturday

The doctors finally came in to talk to Mom and Mallory. There is definitely some nerve damage, and they have started her on some medication specifically for the pain involved with that. They performed an abdominal ultrasound on her yesterday, and did not see anything with her liver. However, they are going to perform an MRA (?) and MRI on her tomorrow to further investigate the liver, with a possibility of a biopsy. They are under the impression that this is an autoimmune related thing, not related to the medication change. Mom asked repeatedly if the nerve damage was fixable, and they would not respond, so who knows. At least we're getting closer to an answer!

Mallory, Friday

Jarrid, Marci, and I went down to see Mallory tonight. I'm actually in the hospital as I'm writing this. Her color has returned somewhat and she has gained a little of her weight back. Still no test results to indicate what is going on...the doctor is supposed to come speak with them tomorrow. She is in a terrible disposition, but cards would be appreciated.

Mallory

Doug and Lana went to visit Mallory today. She agreed that some visitors could come by. However, she requested that visitors be limited to one to two people at a time, and to please remain low-key. She really cannot handle any stresses right now.

Mallory

A lot of people have been asking me about Mallory, so I decided to start a daily update about her here...

First of all, she was diagnosed before Christmas with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. I don't really understand this disease, except that it gives Mal a lowered immune system. In conjuntion with the MCTD, she also has Reynaud's phenomenon and arthritis. Reynaud's has to do with her circulation in her extremeties. So, long story somewhat shorter, she has been on medication for her circulation and arthritis.

Over the holidays Mallory got really sick with whatever was going around town. The rest of us got over it in about 3 days, she took closer to 2 weeks. She stopped taking her medication while she was sick, and attempted to restart it when she was well. She had a reaction to one of the medications, and discontinued it. After calling her doctor, she switched medications, and things went downhill from there.

Mallory really does not want a lot of details given out at this time, but she has been checked into the hospital (if you want to know which one, feel free to call me). They are giving her fluids through her IV and pain medication. They are running tests daily, but have not returned many results yet. I can tell you that they found her liver to have "elevated function", whatever that means. I'll post more when I know it...am going tomorrow to see her.

T is for Twins and Trouble

We started dance lessons last week, so I grabbed a couple of shots of the girls in their "dance-y" clothes. The blue background is Rosemary's newly painted playroom. And the little boy is Caleb, who got his cheek bitten today. Guess who bit it? That's right, Addison. And it wasn't a dainty bite either. I'm at my whit's end with her. I've taken away TV priveleges, spanked, bitten back. I don't know what else to do. If she bites again tomorrow, no dance lessons. Ugh!

Walk-In Movie

When the Judd's used to live here they told us about how they would have people over and watch movies/play games on the side wall of our house. We really liked that idea, so we've been on the lookout for a reasonable projector since we moved in (around 3 years ago). We finally found one at Kohl's last week, clearanced to $78, so we jumped on that. The weather was pretty nice tonight, so we decided to give it a test run. Not too bad! We watched TinkerBell outside, complete with movie popcorn, hot chocolate, and movie candy. We didn't even need the firepit! All in all, it was a pretty great night.



Emma insisted on 3 blankets.


The set-up.


Addison and Daddy.


Hard to see, but Tinkerbell and some other fairy displayed on the wall.