Our Journey...

Friday, August 8, 2014

Emmett's Baseball Season...

Emmett really excelled at baseball this year. It was a good experience overall. Great team, great kids, great parents, and great couches! Paul even helped out with the pitching! The kids made it to the third game of the play-offs before losing. Unfortunately, Emmett was only able to play the first two because we had to leave town to visit family. We were also happy and thankful that Paul's parents could come out for one of the games this season to support him!

Nate would often sit on the bench with Emmett throughout the game and talk to the players. I loved seeing him mingle with the older kids and feel comfortable doing this!

After Emmett's last game before playoffs we took him to our favorite restaurant to celebrate a great season. They actually have a dessert where you can roast marshmallows over a fire and make s'mores! Big smiles all around!

One day when going to the grocery store I found this slip of paper in the truck. I asked Paul about it and he said he wrote it to remind himself to stay positive and encouraging during and after each of Emmett's practices and games. He said he would rather stress the importance of having fun than anything else. He knows that Emmett's skills will improve if he enjoys the game! My heart just melted! I love that!

New Life Jackets...

These are just a couple cute photos of the day I bought the boys their new life jackets. They felt they needed them for our little kiddie pool out back! Ha! They were so happy and excited, and seeing them this way just makes me smile!

Fourth of July 2014...

We had an awesome time at Katie and Bob's for the 4th this year! It was good food, good company, and a great view of the whole city on their deck. We saw multiple firework shows at the same time! I learned how much I love playing beanbags/corn hole! The kids loved every bit of it! I wish I would have taken more pictures!

Update on Nate...

Well it has been a long road, but we are hopefully near a conclusion with Nate's sickness episodes. After 6 rounds of blood work (8 if you count the re-pricks needed), a cat scan, urine tests, chest x-rays, an infectious disease appointment, a rheumatologist appointment, an ENT appointment, multiple doctor appointments, and many many high fevers, Nate has officially been diagnosed with PFAPA. This is a periodic fever syndrome where a child gets predictable fevers every four weeks with tonsillitis. Because his fevers have been so cyclical and his blood work came back abnormal (high CRP and Sed Rate) the doctors felt it necessary to take many precautionary steps before officially diagnosing him.
On August 12th Nate will have his tonsils and adenoids removed in hopes of curing this syndrome. We were given two choices: one was a treatment plan of putting him on prednisone (a steroid) every time he has a fever until he were to grow out of the syndrome, which could be anytime between the ages of 8 and 12. The prednisone would shorten the duration of each fever, but not completely rid the symptoms or amount of times he would fall ill. The other choice was for Nate to get a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. The success rate is only about 80%, but we are hopeful and willing to take the risk. I don't want Nate to miss out on life's activities and upcoming school because of reoccurring fevers, and it is just so sad and maddening to watch him go through these episodes. The rheumatologist did state that she has seen children diagnosed with PFAPA in the past, but then later discovered it was a genetic disorder that needed more attention. Both the infectious disease specialist and the rheumatologist also stated that they would like Paul and I to highly consider the prednisone route because it is "more conventional and less invasive." Although I respect their opinions, being sick every four weeks doesn't sound like an enjoyable life for Nate and does not meet my expectations when "looking out for the best interests of the child." Although their is a "chance" that Nate could have other underlying issues, we are not going to live in fear of the possibilities. We are also very hopeful that the surgery will work for him because I had the same reoccurring sicknesses as a child and had my tonsils removed. I never got strep or tonsillitis again!
Please say a prayer for Nate that he has a successful surgery and a quick recovery! Also, please pray for this surgery to cure Nate's diagnosis of PFAPA!

Here is a picture Paul took of him and Nate going out for ice cream after another course of blood work was needed. I think Nate might actually become a human sprinkler with all the pokes this poor guy has had!