Thankful

It has been a long time since I have done a Thankful Thursday post. But I am so thankful this week that it was time. I know it may seem odd with two sick children that I feel thankful. However, when you spend a few hours in a children's hospital, you realize just how blessed you are. The woman in front of me in the coffee line had a son who was in his second round of chemo and getting ready for surgery the next day. The child across from us in recovery had a brain tumor. His parents spoke Arabic and needed a translator to understand the surgeons. Can you imagine how scary that must have been? There are so many REALLY sick children out there. Please take a minute today to pray for one of them. I know I am.

~ I am thankful that Kate is recovering well. She is pretty clingy and she cries in pain when the meds are wearing off but in general she is doing really well. Thank you, Lord.

~I am thankful that Will is doing really well. His fever has gone and he feels MUCH better. He is still in isolation in his room. We wear masks and I wear gloves as we deliver his meals and things to him. We let him go out in the sun to get some Vitamin D yesterday. Vitamin D is supposed to be beneficial in both preventing the flu and helping your body heal. He wore a mask through the house and went outside for a little walk to get some fresh air.

Will relaxing in his room. We put a little TV in there for him. He is being such a good sport, reading, drawing, and watching movies. He does ring the little bell we gave him a lot. Sometimes, I feel like I am in a sitcom. I am tending to Kate and he starts ringing that bell ad does not stop until I get to him. I did tell him yesterday to stop it with the DAMN bell! I have my moments.

~I am thankful that Harry is recovering. I failed to mention in my last post that Harry sprained his neck! He was at a sleepover and went on a trampoline and really injured his neck. Luckily, our good friend is a chiropractor and he has helped Harry immensely. he told us that he was very lucky. It could have easily been MUCH worse (broken neck). He has not been able to do soccer (which started this week), judo, recess or PE but he is feeling better.

~I am thank for for my husband who has been such a great caretaker of the kids this week. When he is home from work, he is administering medications and ear drops and bringing Will food and movies and playing with Harry. What a good man.

~I am thankful for all of the kind gestures from everyone (prayers, meals, flowers, Dvd's, little gifts, phone calls and e-mails). They are too numerous to name here but when everyone is well...I will be sending y'all thank you notes.

~I am thankful for my partner in the preppy fall swap, Norah. She sent me the most wonderful swap package this week. I LOVE everything in it. It was the highlight of my day on Tuesday!!!!

Norah sent me lavender bath products, beautiful Lily monogrammed notecards, thanksgiving kitchen towels and cookie cutters, a book mark and light, personalized bookplates, Lily matches and fun beverage napkins and a subscription to Southern Living. Thank you SO much!

~I am thankful for an apology. An anonymous person apologized for leaving a harsh comment on my blog. I appreciate this gesture and forgive the person.

~I am thankful for Taylor who is coming to help me a few hours a day so that I can shower, cook dinner, pick up Harry from school and tend to Will while she sits with Kate. She has been a lifesaver!

Here are some photos of what we are up to....I am basically running back and forth between the patients. But they are both EXCELLENT patients!

Harry really misses Will and is worried about him. He sends little notes in with Will's meals and vitamins.

Kate cuddling up with Scout in the playroom. Scout is NOT allowed on the sofa!

Ruby and Ainsley sent Kate these beautiful pink flowers. When Kate saw them she said, "For me?!" She jumped up and down. She was so excited and she exclaimed, "They are so lovely!"

Kate plucked a rose from the arrangement and danced around with it in her codeine induced merriment. Unfortunately, it does not last long before the pain and crying return.

I bought her this little make-up kit and she has had lots of fun with it too.

Doesn't that pink lip gloss look divine in her eyebrows?

You really won't believe this...

Thank you for the prayers, calls and thoughts, friends. Kate is fine. Her surgery went well and her recovery is going okay. She is having trouble keeping things down and she is in quite a bit of pain. She screamed bloody murder when she came out of anesthesia for a long time. I felt so bad. They let us home home which is nice, I suppose. She is very cuddly and clingy and is on my lap as I type this:)

This morning as we were getting ready to go to the hospital (4:30 AM) Will came into my room telling me that he was really sick. He had fever, chills, headache, and runny nose. He had a temperature of 102. We left him home with the babysitter hoping it was just a little bug.

There was a point at the hospital that I realized Will might have the flu. Kate had hives all over her body and she was cuddling with Will last night. I wondered if we should cancel her surgery in case she was getting sick. Since she was asymptomatic, they went ahead with it. In recovery, I called our pediatrician and asked if my babysitter could bring Will in. She did and he has THE FLU! He tested positive for influenza A and they think it is the swine flu (80-85% sure) because the regular seasonal flu is not usually active this early. So we have two patients isolated in different parts of the house. Will is quarantined to his room and we are wearing masks when we go in.

**He just had an AWFUL hallucination that a blanket was attacking him (my second child to have a horrendous reaction to Tamiflu!) You might remember Kate's AWFUL reaction to Tamiflu . I knew that Tamiflu caused hallucinations in Asians sometimes but what we saw in Will was terrifying. No more for our family. Will took it a few years ago without any side effects and I was taking care of Kate so I did not even think about Tamiflu but this was really, really scary.

We really have to try to keep Kate from getting this flu.

I am praying that no one else gets it right now. Here are a few lousy photos....I wish I had taken a few more because this is something I would put in her scrapbook but I was pre-occupied. The quality of the photos is terrible.

Reading the princess books with Dad before surgery.

Cuddling with Dad in recovery.

Having a popsicle at home. (the pot was because she keeps throwing up;)

Opening some little gifts from Taylor (our part-time babysitter). Kate calls her "Tigger" and Kate LOVES her. She is going to be a child life specialist and she put together the cutest little recovery bag for Kate with Hello Kitty socks and pencils, a notebook and stickers, nail polish etc.

Sorry if this post is all over the place and poorly written. I am tired and it has been quite a day!