Home Again

We made it home last night, just in time for it to start pouring. We watched the lightning show for about the last hour of our drive and got about two miles from home when it started raining hard. It's always fun to unload suitcases in the rain. But we were just glad to be home.

The meeting with the epileptologist didn't go exactly as I had planned. There must have been a break down in communication between St. Jude and LeBonheur, because we were assuming Dr. Clark would have all the information from the MRI's and tell us what we were going to do. But, he still didn't have the scans. So he just checked her out thoroughly and adjusted her meds again and told us they'd call us next week with a gameplan. I was very disappointed. It's not like we just waited all week to see what kind of action we were going to take to get on top of things. The strange thing is, she hasn't had a seizure the entire week while we were there. She's just been so confident that they were going to fix her. Dr. Clark said that worry and stress can bring them on, so I guess since we were getting her checked out, she wasn't so stressed out. I don't know. I asked him about school, because she seems to have more at school. He said he'd like to keep her as normal as possible, so he'd recommend keeping her in school instead of doing a homebound program. Next week is spring break, so we have a little time before we have to worry about that, I guess.

So, after meeting with the doc, we went back to e clinic to get her LP results. All clear! Praise the Lord! Then we met a friend of ours for lunch at Huey's downtown. They have great burgers and Brenna likes it because you can shoot toothpicks through your straw and stick them in the ceiling. Her lungs aren't quite powerful enough to make it to the ceiling, but they hit the ceiling fan a few times and flew onto other people's tables. Nobody got upset, I guess they just expect it to happen when you eat there. I don't mind the toothpicks so much as the flying slobber that follows them.

Brenna's back has been really sore since her LP. They actually had to stick her three times to get enough fluid. That's very unusual for her. Normally there's only one poke and her fluid gushes out. I thought that was strange. But nobody seemed concerned. Her back is more sore than usual this time. It's no wonder.

The endocrine people increased her thyroid meds this time. Her numbers were still off, so they felt they needed to increase it. And since she hasn't grown adequately over the past year, they want to bring us back in a month or so and do growth hormone deficiency testing. And, since she's on seizure medication, they have to do the test at LeBonheur. They're supposed to call us with that schedule.

I was supposed to go to the Extraordinary Women Conference here in Tulsa this morning with friends. I was looking forward to going. It was supposed to be really good. But when I got out of bed this morning to give Brenna her meds at 5:00, I was so tired. You know, that shaky, nauseous kind of tired? I didn't think I could make it all day. Of course, Jalen ran fever last night, so we were up and down with him. It's always fun to come home to sick kids. He sleepwalks and moans a lot when he has a fever, so we didn't sleep well.

My mom left about an hour ago to go home. She got to take Bella to the doctor on Tuesday, while we were gone. She had pink eye and impetigo. I think every time we go to memphis with Brenna, one of the other kids comes down with something. This time it was both of them. I may have to spend Palm Sunday at home. We'll see how Jalen is feeling the rest of the day.

Even though we came home to sick kids and we don't have all the answers for Brenna's seizures, there is reason to praise. Psalm 34:1-3 - I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.

Thanks to all who prayed and continue to pray for our family. We thank God for you.

- Bettina