Adjustments

Our family is slowly adjusting to what our new "normal" looks like. I am feeling less exhausted each day. I am so glad our other three kiddos are not preschoolers anymore. At 12, 9, and 7, they are really quite helpful. They can make oatmeal, heat up cans of soup, and even make pancakes and waffles! And with some encouragement, they can even do quite a few chores inside and outside the house.

The two boys are still struggling with bronchitis. It just keeps on hanging on...since the end of July. Nathan just started on antibiotics a couple days ago and Micah just finished a week's worth. He's been feverish most of the day today and just moping around feeling lowsy. I'll probably take him back to the doctor tomorrow. Poor buddy! Please pray that Aliyah doesn't get this nasty respiratory illness that even I haven't gotten rid of 100%.

This summer, the boys have memorized large amounts of Scripture and done an inductive study of the book of II Timothy in preparation for the Bible Bee. The local contests will be held this Saturday all over the nation. They have worked so hard for this opportunity to compete; we pray that they are well enough to participate. We are so proud of them for putting so much effort into hiding God's Word in their hearts.

The learning curve for Aliyah's IV antibiotics administration was steep especially with a sleep-deprived brain. It is becoming easier now. As of today, I don't have the 16-step list in front of my nose that walks me through the whole sterile process. In brief, each time I give her IV meds, which is 5 times during a 24-hour period, I have to push 4 things through her PICC line in a very specific order... 5mL saline, antibiotic using an IV pump, 5mL saline, Heparin. One of the antibiotics takes 45 minutes on the pump and the other takes about 30 minutes. I start the first one at 6:30am and the last one of the day is done about midnight. The amount of medical supplies needed for just one week of this is astonishing. The bottom crisper in our fridge is filled, not with apples, but bags full of prefilled syringes of two different kinds of antibiotics and Heparin. Aliyah is still needing meds for pain management. Her knee is still warm and she still won't extend it voluntarily. I think this is to be expected. We're just doing gentle range-of-motion exercises right now. Her reflux has been horrible! She is swallowing frequently at night in effort to keep everything down. Another odd thing is that she is urinating excessively with no change in her diet. I called her doctor today and he said to monitor her for signs of dehydration. We have a followup appointment on Monday with both orthopedics and Infectious Disease. Also, the drain hole in her knee which was dry and scabbed over is now moist and oozing a little, so we're keeping our eye on that.