Thursday, March 18, 2010

Princess Reese

Today she was treated like a princess!! Look at all the goodies from the Hamanns! Lori, Parker and Owen came to visit today bringing baskets of goodies for her and the family! Thank you N,L,P & O as well as Don and Jane!! {Lori, we'll discuss the whistle later....hehehe!!}
Just as they were leaving "her friend" (and mine!!) Michele came to visit. She brought her all kinds of activities and a cute bunny cup with straw that she is using for her Shamrock Shake right now!! {sorry I didn't get a picture!!}

When I got back from taking a shower and picking up some cutie pjs for Reese there was a DOG in the room :) She was so excited that "Babe" the Irish Setter stopped for a visit. I have a picture on my phone I will try to post later, or to Facebook.

And they kept coming...
Jennifer, Annie, Janey, and Sam stopped by, too! Reesey LOVES Annie, so she was super excited to get hugs from her! They brought her some fun markers and note pad, but most importantly NAIL POLISH!! It was a HIT! :) She was so excited, and Annie even offered to paint her nails for her!
Being in the hospital is no excuse not to pamper yourself :) Reese has painted her nails a dozen times tonight (as well as mine!!)
Tonight she was telling Ryan about getting to ride in the wagon to "the hair fixin' place" :) {where they put the sensors on her!!} She has such a great outlook on everything, she gets her hair done and her picture taken and sometimes gets pokes. But this is a fun place :) Not sure how long this will last, but for now she is being such an tough little cookie!

Now to the details of the day...
She had a physical therapy "session" that evaluated her. She was at her worst. Along with all of the tired and sleepiness she gets very weak and loses balance. She also has less control over her large motor skills. (such as squatting, walking, balancing) We were glad the physical therapist saw this. Because she is very inconsistent... you never know when she will have that kind of "spell". After she reported back to the neurologist the red flags went back up.

Tonight they started ANOTHER iv... this is her third now :( ...and unfortunately it took 2 tries. Then they sent her off to "get her hair done" down in EEG, to prepare her for a longer EEG plus video testing. She has to keep them on through the night and up to the point of her full head and spine MRI tomorrow. {the last one she had was just the head} Also, this one is going to be a contrast MRI. This test is about 4-5 hours long and she will be sedated for this. She also had to give several vials of blood tonight and urine and now we wait on a stool sample.

We are hopeful that answers are just around the corner!! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and ideas and inputs as we find out what is causing her to be so tired and weak. I also want to thank all of you who had e-cards sent to Reese. She loves getting them delivered to her room!! If you haven't had a chance please take a minute and send her one. Just follow this link:

http://www.iowahealth.org/body.cfm?id=171

They print them and deliver them to her room #416 at Blank Children's Hospital :) What a neat idea!! Today she received 63!!! YIPEEE!! I read them to her and she kissed each one! She is such a lucky girl to have all of you thinking about her! She is excited to get home and "hang them on her wall"!!


I will continue to update...

8 friends had to say...:

Ryan said...

Praying for you, Reesey! I wish I could send God some Q-tips so he could clean out his ears and hear all the prayers coming his way on your behalf! Keep smiling sweet pea and know that Papa and Grandma love you very much!

Ryan said...

Oops! Grandma Tricia forgot to thank Jennifer and her kids for spending time with Hallie today. She enjoyed all of the activities with the kids! She (Hallie) has been such a good helper but she's still just 6 and doesn't understand what's going on just like the rest of us! God Bless!

Jodi Lansink said...

She has lots of people that love her and that are thinking and praying for her!!! What a GREAT idea Lori for the awesome gift baskets! I am sure that will come in handy! Thanks for the updates---and I hope today isn't too hard on her----poor thing!!!!

Marion said...

I hope today isn't too hard on her too--- but she will be sedated and you won't be! When our youngest was 6 WKS.!! old he had meningitis and had to have countless spinal taps and I'm sure it was much harder on Don and me than it was on him (he was sedated). So just know that I'm praying for you and Ryan as well as Reese! I'll be happy to send her a card, thanks for letting us know about that! love you.

Amy Walter said...

That is a cool link to send cards - what a great idea!

Poor little Reese - she is in my prayers. Hopefully you'll get some answers today!

sandalloons40 said...

Oh and God bless you all. Just hang in there and no they will get the answers soon! The Lord is helping her and keeping her safe!
I am sorry though as too any parent, what a puzzling experience you all had trying to find the answers.
thanks alot in all your worries, thoughts, and stresses, that you have the time to keep everyone posted!
Hang in there! :)

Unknown said...

Candi we are praying for Reese today that mayo will give you answers and Reese will be hoem soon. Take care of yourself

Marion said...

You've gone to the Mayo Clinic? They're the best! Continuing the prayers... wish there was more I could do. love you