1/15: Finally, she's done!!

Knock on wood but she finally appears to be through this episode (11:45pm, 2 1/2 days).  She hasn't gotten sick in two hours and we were able to give her a bath, get her in some fresh PJ's and start putting food in her belly.  We're trying something a bit different this time to reintroduce food. She's just getting MCT oil, amino acids, brown rice syrup and water (fat, protein and carbs, all in their easiest forms to digest).   Her 'recovery' (if that's what this truly is) was a bit different this time.  Normally she snaps out of it and is wide awake for8 hours. This time she was wide awake for an hour or two and then showed signs that she was ready to be put down to bed (the 'sign' actually reads "leave me the heck alone" but close enough.  We'll see what happens....  finally time to sleep!!!  Thanks again all for your thoughts and prayers.

1/15: Still going...

It let up from about 3:30 until 6:30 this morning and we thought she was through it but then she quickly fell back into her lethargic state and the vomiting continues...   What could this be..................... 

Here we go again

Anya started vomiting this morning. Let's pray this goes by quickly!

1/06: some weight gain..

I'm 17.3 lbs... yea!!

1/05 Weee!!!!!!!

12/30 Anya goes sledding

Anya went sledding today for her first time... More pics here

12/27 Good news / Bad news...

The good news is that Anya finally stopped vomiting. She snapped out of it and got her energy back around 3 this morning. Now she just appears to have a cold she's fighting.

Now for the bad news.. Unrelated to Anya but still a sad day for our family. Our dog, Summit (aka Sum-Bum or Summy), passed away this morning. He was a beautiful Great Pyrenees/ Golden mix who was great with our kids. He was white (when clean), fluffy and a great cuddler. We were blessed with Summit about eight years ago when we got him from the Denver Dumb Friends League (the pound). He loved going for walks or being off-leash and exploring, chasing rabbits (I'm proud to say the old man actually caught one last year. I think he was as shocked as we were when it happened). We enjoyed many adventures (pre-kids) with him like camping and snowshoeing. He had such a calm and patient demeanor, yet a zest for life (up until these past few months).

Summit had arthritis for the past few years but just last week we discovered he actually had MS. The Vet, whom is a brilliant man, suspected the MS was the result of Helicobacter Pyloris. We got the blood work back a few days ago that confirmed his suspicion, unfortunately it was too late. Summy had been going down hill quickly. Last week he could no longer get up or down a single stair. Yesterday he could no longer walk. He slept with us last night and this morning he was unable to even stand so we took him to the Vet to make the heartbreaking decision. As much a it hurt, Sum-Bum always walked with pride (it was cute how he would seem embarrassed if he tripped or missed catching a ball). This morning the pride was gone, he was ready to go... We love you Sum-Bum and we'll miss you dearly... for more pictures, click here.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas! What a wonderful day to celebrate with friends and family. We are enjoying some family time as well, and busy playing with new toys! Anya is still sick, we are really trying to just keep her out if the ER. That is the last place I want to be today. So hopefully she will keep down some pedialyte.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ugh Anya just started puking

Anya just started puking after a long 28 day stretch. I really didn't want Anders's B-day and X-mas to be consumed with this. I just wanted to celebrate all of God's Blessings without being worried for Anya's vomiting. We have so much to be grateful for yet when she starts vomiting I get so worried and can't think of anything else except for how scared I am. I pray she gets better in the next 24 hours so we can celebrate Christmas, Jesus, life and health!!

God Bless

 

12/19 Anya is doing well

Anya is doing really well. She has been smiling like crazy lately! She is truly a GOOD baby despite her health issues. She is such a blessing to this family and we are so thankful for her fighting spirit. Anya is starting to play with some of her push button toys. She really enjoys reading books and helping to turn the page. Very Cute! We got her a Jumparoo and she is doing surprisingly really well in it. She can practice weight bearing and head control as well as play with all the toys that are attached to it.

 

We are still working on gaining weight. She has a metabolism like Pete! Long and lanky!!!! We have started to give her coconut milk, we'll see if that helps for putting on some weight. If she could only have some yummy X-Mas treats. We have been seeing 2 new doctors which we really like and feel hopeful that they can help Anya in some way.

 

Anders will be five on X-Mas Eve. Crazy, I know, I can't believe I have a 5 year old. He's looking forward to his B-day, X-Mas and of course all the presents. Aksel is doing well and curious about this whole Santa thing :) Should be a fun Christmas!

NEW PICTURES!!!!!!

 

12/12 Back From Breckenridge

Just wanted to update quick. We are back from Breckenridge. We had a family vacation before we leave Colorado and can't get to the mountains as much as we would like to. We really like Breckenridge and will def. make it a regular winter visit! The kids had fun and Pete and I are ready for our own vaca:)!!! Funny how it never really seems like a vacation for the parents. So much work but so worth it. Anders and Pete had a great day of skiing while Aksel, Anya and I hung out at the house. So much snow and Anders is doing Blue runs like a champ. We did a little sledding, made a snow fort, went for walks and played lots of games! Anya did excellent, no vomiting and stayed out of the hospital! We are thankful for the time we had together and in such a beautiful atmosphere!!!! Pete and I miss the outdoors and look forward to more ski and camping vacations when it isn't so difficult with the kids :) I hope they grow up to love the outdoors as much as we do! That's it for now, there is unpacking that is calling my name.......

 

11/28: Back home now

Anya and I are home now.  They monitored her oxygen saturation levels at Children's and they remained in the 90's w/o supplemental oxygen.  When we first got there, her levels match what we were finding yesterday and this morning at the pediatricians (mid to low 80's) but once we got settled in to the ER they improved right away.  We'll go back in again tomorrow and check it again...  Overall she looks good and seems to have regained her energy. She hasn't vomited since around 9:30am and is now taking in food and acting more hungry.    I think she'll be fine but I also think we got extreamly lucky to just happen to catch it early. Pneumonia is probably my biggest fear with her as it can get out of control quickly. I said it before and will say it again, She's a fighter...  Thanks all, we appreciate your support, thoughts and prayers.   Time to see if that little bugger is going to sleep now.

Off to Children's

Pete took Anya down to Children's Hospital this afternoon. We went in for a doc. appointment this morning and found her oxygen saturation to not be very high. We need to do what's best for Anya as much as I hate to see her go to the hospital. They will probably be home tomorrow if all goes well. Please keep little Anya in your prayers!

11/27- Pneumonia :(

Anya continued to vomit through this morning so we decided to take her in for IV fluids. Fortunately so..  Routine vitals while being brought in to the ER found that her oxygen levels were fairly low (pulse-ox read 85 where she is typically 98%).  They ordered chest x-rays and found trace evidence of pneumonia developing.  She's now on antibiotics and we'll just watch her closely for fever or rapid breathing and take her back in tomorrow and for the next few days to re-check her pulse-ox.  

 

We also hate to report she now weighs only 15lbs.  We've started to reintroduce foods this evening but her digestion rate appears very slow. 

 

Well, if nothing else, she's by far the prettiest sick little girl we ever seen (I may be bias).

11/26 Anya's puking again

Anya woke up puking this morning. I will update when she is feeling better.

11/26 Sick again...

Greetings all.  I'm not sure if we just got lucky for that 38-day stretch she had but she has been vomiting again (once Satuday night, a few times last night, good through the night but then started again this morning).  Who knows... 

11/20 Doing well

Sorry I didn't get a chance to update sooner but Anya has been feeling much better. She stopped vomiting Sat. evening and has been doing well since. This last episode lasted a long time, 3 full days, but we were able to get some fluids in her each day. The really big problem is that she is losing so much weight which she can't afford to do. So we need to think of something soon to get some weight on her. We are trying to get into a clinic in Houston that specializes in ped. GI. Hopefully we can get her in to see that doc. sometime in the next couple weeks. He could hopefully give us insight as to why the malabsorption problem is happening.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

 

Nov.17 Still sick

Just a quick update, Anya is still sick. She's been vomiting since Thursday. If she doesn't start holding down pedialite today she is going in for an IV for some hydration. Ugh, what a bummer. Just when we thought we were done with this. We still are very concerned that she hasn't gained any weight on the avocado diet. There are def. malabsorption problems going on just not sure what to do about it.

We'll update later.

11/15

Well it happened, Anya started vomiting late last night. What a bummer. We could tell she wasn't doing well, her mucus started increasing and I knew it was just time before she got sick. We are so happy with the duration between episodes but not sure what triggered it. We will keep up with the avocado and see if it helps. Today she will just get some pedialyte and hopefully be able to hold it down.