the last 2 weeks...

Carter: On Thursday, March 18 I took Carter to get some follow-up bloodwork down at FCHC.  Friday, the doctor called to tell us that his platelet counts were down again to 66,000.  So he was scheduled to see a Hemotologist at The Toledo Children's Hospital on Monday, March 22.  So on Monday I met with Dr. Stein and she examined him and didn't see any symptoms but ordered more bloodwork.  The blood taken at Toledo showed platelet counts of 155,000!  The huge difference between labs makes us wonder is one lab is way off in their readings.  On Wednesday, March 24 we met with our family doctor for Carter's 1 month wellness check-up.  She asked if we would like to do follow-up bloodwork on Carter one more time since there was such a difference between labs.  I told her we did want to but would like to have it done in Toledo right away them mess around with Wauseon.  Terry will take him to Toledo on Friday, April 2 for this "final" one.  In the meantime, Carter continues to gain weight and change each day!  He is beginning to follow objects with his eyes and if you're lucky you can get a smile!

Olivia: Olivia is doing great with Carter.  Each night before bed she reminds us that she has to come give Carter a kiss before bedtime.  We've found that when she isn't eating a meal we just have to bring Carter into the room and have him "watch" her eat and she'll eat well.  On Sunday, March 14 we all got ready to go to church for Carter's first time in church.  Bags were packed, everyone dressed except Olivia.  We went to get Olivia up a 9:10 to get her fed and dressed only to find that she was covered in hives!  They were huge blotches and EVERYWHERE on her.  Well, we didn't get to church that day.  Not sure of the cause.  She was acting fine otherwise. 

Terry: Terry continues to be the only stable healthy one of the family.

Carissa: Just when I was beginning to be able to do things and help out and feel like a normal person again, I have this surgery!  On Thursday, March 25 early in the morning at 2:45 a.m. I got up to feed Carter and noticed some chest pain and discomfort.  After feeding him I went back to bed but the pain only intensified and went to my back also.  I tried many sleeping positions and then started to get a little shortness of breath.  At 5:00 a.m. I woke Terry up and told him that something was not right and I needed to go to the ER.  We called my parents to come and stay with the kids and were to the ER by 5:25 a.m.  Well, I was assessed and it was evident that I was having a gallbladder attack (the DAY BEFORE my surgery!!!).  This was definitely the worst attack I had had in the 10 months of the gallbladder issues.  They gave me many pain meds and I found relief and was home by 8:00 a.m.  On Friday, March 26 I went in to FCHC for outpatient surgery to have my gallbladder lapriscopically removed.  We arrived at 7:30 a.m. and I didn't go into surgery until after 9:15 a.m.  The surgery went well.  Afterwards it took awhile to find the right med to get rid of the nausea and the pains.  I finally went home around 3:30 p.m.  Since being home I have noticed a change in my vision.  So I stopped my pain meds on Sunday afternoon and still (now Tuesday) am not seeing clearly.  It especially bothers me looking at things up close.  My pupils are quite dialated all the time.  It appears like I'm on drugs!  It is quite bothersome and annoying.  It makes me feel a bit lightheaded at times.  I've talked with the surgeon's nurse, an outpatient nurse, and a nurse through my insurance regarding this bizarre reaction to meds.  I've been told to give it a couple days to get all the pain meds out of my system.  All of the nurses said they've never heard of this reaction before (of course!).  The pain is getting better however it still is painful to bend over or to hold Carter.  I have to hold him high up on my chest to not feel pain on my incisions.  The bellybutton incision hurts the most out of the 3 spots on my stomach.  Terry has been extremely helpful in letting me sleep all night and he gets up with Carter to feed him.  We're hoping this uninterupted sleep helps speed along the recovery process, however Terry is getting wiped out in the process!