YEE-HAWW - Arizona It Is!!!

FROM THIS

TO THIS?

(So the picture of Caitlin was the only one I could find that showed how truly GREEN it is in Missouri.)

We are heading to Arizona next year!!! Can you believe it? For people that don't know, ATSU does the 1st two years of medical school on-site with classes, and the 2nd two years is spent in rotations. His school has contracted rotation sites in several other states that you can choose from. Basically, you put your top 6 choices, and you see what the computer gives you. Arizona has a lot of spots, seeing that there is another ATSU campus there, and the area is so large. So we figured putting Arizona, we would pretty much get it. And we did! So...should I be THIS excited to go to heat-wave central? Maybe not, but I am really excited about it. I think this is the best choice for Nate, as well as our little family. So we will be in Arizona from July 2008-July 2010 (when Nate FINALLY graduates!!!!).

All is still going well here, and we are all healthy. The girls and I are THRILLED to leave in a week and a half for Utah to welcome my sister Sarah home from her mission in Pennsylvania. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry...I think when you only have one sister, you develop a bond that goes quite deep. She has done such a wonderful job on her mission, and we can't wait to see her again! Sarah and Caitlin were the best of friends before Sarah left. She said that on her mission she printed out pictures of Caitlin, and she looks at them every day now because she can't wait to see her. We miss you Sarah! Can't wait!

Kansas City Marathon

Betsy, Jory, Nate, Trever & Katie.

(Those girls should NOT look that good after running!)

This past weekend we made the trip to Kansas City for Nate to run the Waddell-Reed Kansas City Marathon. We went with our friends the Wilkins, and the Bulkleys. Trever, Betsy, and Nate ran the marathon, and Katie and Jory ran the half-marathon. (Still a HUGE accomplishment!) I ran the...uh...ok...so I didn't run anything! It was such a fun trip, and everyone did great. It is a hard marathon, with a lot of hills. Nate finished in 4 hours 35 minutes (I think). They still did wonderful, and it was fun to get out of Kirksville, and see some of Kansas City! I kind-of went overboard on the pictures, so I apologize. And the only video I was able to catch was of Nate and Trever finishing. It is so fun to be at that finish line. Marathons are insanely hard, and it's so fun to cheer people on at the end!

This is what Caitlin did the whole time. She loves playing with Lucas!

This is Nate and Jory....joking around as usual.

This is the Wilkins clan. Trever, Katie, and cute little Libbs of course.

Good job to everyone! Maybe next year I'll join in too! NOT!

She's Back! Hooray!

Abby is so thrilled to have her sister back and feeling better. As are we!!! Here's a little video clip of Caitlin back to her normal self.

And the Verdict Is...

This is a picture* of our new-found friend.

We found out yesterday evening that Caitlin has Giardia (or Giardiasis Lamblia for those of you med people that need longer names for things). For those of you that don't know, Giardia (pronounced GEE-ar-dee-uh) is a parasite that is usually picked up by drinking untreated water in foreign countries, or drinking untreated mountain water while camping. It causes severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, among all the other symptoms Caitlin has been dealing with for almost 4 weeks now.

The doctors say that we may never know where she picked it up from. There haven't been other cases reported in Kirksville, so we don't have anything to go off of. I read online (and everything online is truth, right?) that before you start showing symptoms, you can have had the parasite for 1-4 weeks. So that could take us back 8 weeks, and I have no idea where she would have gotten it from.

They have started her on the treatment medication, and she will be on that for 5 days. Once the medication is done, and her diarrhea clears up, then we will be 'in-the-clear', and ready for normal life again. Although I wouldn't wish this on anyone OR their children, it was such a relief to finally find out what she has. They tested her for this very last, because they didn't think there was any way it would be Giardia, having not gone camping or been out of the country. (If you ask me...with her sypmtoms they should have tested her for this over 2 weeks ago...but that's just coming from a Mom who's exhausted in every part of my being from this whole thing.)

I'm so grateful that it wasn't anything more complicated that would have required further medical procedures and such. Caitlin lasts until about 4 or 5 with her full energy. Then she crashes and wants to lay around for the next hour or so. She is still pale, and has lost some weight, but we are glad to have her on-the-mend, and eating well.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped us through this the past week. It was so rough living away from family and having a child in the hospital, but we are blessed with friends and neighbors who helped us through in so many ways. Hopefully this is the last you'll see about Caitlin's illness! I'm ready to get back to posts about soccer, tumbling, and having fun!
(*About the 'picture' of the Giardia parasite, it doesn't REALLY have eyes that can see. It just looks like it has 2 big eyes under a microscope. And this is obviously a drawing of what the parasite looks like. Just wanted to clear that up! ;o)

P.S. If anyone knows why it messes up the paragraph spacing when I insert a picture in here....PLEASE let me know! It drives me crazy!

She's feeling better...

Well, Caitlin is acting almost like her normal self again. She has energy, and she is playing and eating almost as much as she used to. She still has the diarrhea, but at least she isn't acting sick as much anymore. We have an appt. with the pediatric GI doc tomorrow in St. Louis, and it's at 9am...so we have to leave in the wee hours of the morning! But I told them I'd take whatever time they had open to be able to get her in. Thanks so much to everyone for all the well-wishes, offers to help, concern, and care that you've shown for us. We are hoping and praying that this whole thing ends soon, and that Caitlin can just enjoy a normal 4-year old lifestyle again!

Quick Update

Last night was pretty bad again, but no fever. So after consulting with her doctor this morning, she's going to let her stay home while she makes phone calls today to get her in to see a pediatric GI. Those doctors work so hard, and so many after-hours! Who would want to be a doctor anyways? I LOVE my sweet Caitlin, and I'm so grateful she's still home. I'm also extremely excited to watch conference today (via internet), because the hospital didn't have wireless internet, so I missed out yesterday. I'll have to catch up this week!

Visit to the Hospital

Well, to fill in anyone that doesn't know...Caitlin hasn't been feeling 100% lately. She's had...well..the runs for 3 weeks now. At first, she just acted normal and was fine. This past week things went downhill, as she lost all her energy, appetite, and thirst, and would just lay around day after day. She also has random fevers with little or no other symptoms. On Thursday her doctor's office FINALLY (after much nagging on a very concerned mother's part) sent her to get some more bloodwork done, so they could refer her to a pediatric gastroenterologist. We then ran back to the doctor's office for another checkup. The doctor decided to send us back to the hospital for abdominal x-rays after that. (This was all done in a whirlwind on Thurs. afternoon. Thank goodness for a sweet neighbor that took care of Abby and the baby that I babysit.) Between the x-ray results, the blood results, and Caitlin being very dehydrated, they decided to admit her to the hospital on-the-spot, and get an IV running asap.

This is Caitlin at one of her few decent-feeling moments.

Because she was dehydrated (and she is IMPOSSIBLE to draw blood from anyways), starting the IV was a lengthy, painful process. They decided to start it in the ER, because the nurses there start IVs a little more regularly. The 1st two places they tried were in both sides of her foot. If I'm not mistaken, that is the most painful place to start an IV. They dug and dug and dug in her poor foot, and they just couldn't get it. (At this point, several people had to be moved from the ER to the lobby, because she was screaming so bad, and they felt so bad for her.) Then the digging began in her forearm. FINALLY, after about 20 minutes of torture for poor Caitlin (and the same amount of immense praying on Mom's part), they got the IV started. They anchored it a bunch of different ways, and they put a brace on the back of her arm so there was no possible way she could make it come out. I don't know if they'd be able to get another one going if it did come out! (And I wouldn't be able to hold her down any longer!) By 9 or 9:30pm she was moved upstairs into her room, and she was exhausted. Over the course of Thursday until tonight, they ran test after test after x-ray after more tests, and all of the results have come back negative.

They would let Caitlin walk around the halls, and she liked to push her own IV cart. This is after making one loop around the hall, and she was mad and ready to lay back down.

To this point, they still have not figured anything out. They know that something inside her gut is infected, because of the elevated level of white blood cells. (I know there is a much more medical term for that.) They can't start antibiotics because they don't know what kind of infection it is, or what caused it. She IS hydrated after being on the IV for 3 days, so they finally decided to let us go home at about 8pm tonight.

We are meeting with the doctor again tomorrow at 10am, if everything goes well tonight. If she has another bad night tonight, the doctor is thinking of having her checked in at a hospital in Columbia (an hour and a half away)...which would be extremely hard. So we are praying that tonight goes smoothly. After tomorrow, the doctor is hoping to be able to get a pediatric G.I. doc ANYWHERE within 4 hours of here to see her by Tuesday morning, at the latest. The doctor is very concerned, because her stomach hurts so bad on and off.

I can't say enough how thankful I am to live close to a hospital, and for modern technology. The pediatrician that is helping us is WONDERFUL, and she is proactive, and aggressively trying to find out what is causing all of Caitlin's pain and problems. We will keep you updated with the latest and what they decide to do next. I am SO GRATEFUL that my sweet Caitlin is home again!!!