It Takes a Village

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday, spending time with family, playing with my kiddos and taking a long nap.  This Mother's Day was extra special not only because I appreciate being a Mommy to my the super awesome munchkins so much more than I ever thought possible, but also because I am even more aware of all the beautiful, strong women that surround me and my family.  I've always thought Mother's Day wasn't just about moms, but about all nurturing women.  Never has this been more apparent than this last year.  My kids and I are so completely blessed to have some very fantastic, nurturing women in our life who have not hesitated to step in and care for my children when I could not be there.  I strongly believe, that while this year has been super hard, my kids will come out strong, happy, well rounded individuals thanks in no small part to the love and care they have received from all these women.  Each one has different strengths and my kids have been lucky enough to benefit from all of them.  I try to be everything for my kids but, of course, I can't be.  How lucky are we that out of this trial, Wes, Nate and Ellie get to spend time with all of these amazing women!  The most amazing, in my opinion of course, is my mom.  Who's strength and love I continue to draw from every day.  So, thank you to all the amazing "moms" who have dropped everything to care for me and my children, you know who you are.  We love you!



Nate began the antibody treatment today.  It was rough.  We checked in to the hospital at 7am.  We got up to the room and Nate was hooked up to fluids.  Soon, he got his daily shot to boost his immune system.  He was given Tylenol and hydroxyzine, which hope to protect against some of the side effects of the antibody.  Next, he was given a bolus of morphine and hooked up to a pain pump.  The CH 14.18 (the antibody) started at about 11:15am.  I tried to get Nate to rest because I thought the hydroxyzine and morphine should make him want to sleep.  It certainly made him "drunk", but he had no interest in sleeping, he was jumping all over the bed.  So, we took Softie for a walk all around the 7th floor.  Halfway through our walk, Nate started to look sleepy and asked to go back to his room.  By the time I laid him back in his bed, he began moaning in pain...this was about 2:30pm.  We were told that it might take as long as 6 hours on the first day to see the side effects of the antibody...Nate only made it 3.  I snuggled up in bed with him (normally he doesn't want anyone in his bed) and watched the clock for the next time I could push his pain pump button.  He would get relief here and there but did a lot of moaning.  After about 2 or 3 hours it was apparent that he wasn't getting any relief from the morphine because he was crying out in pain.  I asked the nurse for more medicine and they gave him another bolus and upped his pump dosage.  The nurse told us to try and rest and she would come in every 10 minutes to push Nate's pain button.  It apparently worked because I woke up about an hour later, at 7pm, and Nate was drugged, but not uncomfortable.  The antibody stopped at 9pm.  The pain pump will be turned off soon.  Nate is currently snoring away.  I'm hoping he might wake up and eat a little, then go back to sleep for the night.  I'm hoping he won't wake up in the middle of the night, fully rested, because he slept in a drug induced stupor all day...we'll see.  Nate is also retaining some fluid, but doesn't really look that puffy.  They are giving him a diuretic to try and get the fluid off.  I promise to write that post explaining this therapy soon, but this is all expected...it just stinks seeing my baby in pain.  Round 1...1 day down 3 to go.  We can do this!