Random Things

Sheesh! I haven't posted in a while. Lots going on...here is a brief breakdown!

So we found out that Katie is allergic to cats and dogs. Lovely. The wonderful news is that she is not allergic to the outside allergens along with dust mites and mold. WOO! We are trying to keep the animals away from Katie as much as possible and are not allowing them in Katie's room. It will take a while before we might see an improvement. Think good thoughts!

Brian's grandma came out for a visit a couple of weeks ago. She makes us laugh! She is so full of energy and tired us all out. Hahaha! We went to Mobile and made a couple of stops along the way. I have some pictures that I will post soon. We had a great time while she was here. Brian and I managed to get sunburned on that Sunday which was not great, but thankfully we were able to keep the kids burn free!

I headed out to Seattle last Monday for business. Sitting on a plane being packed in like a sardine while having a blistering sunburn is not the most pleasant experience. I am sure the man sitting next to me could feel the heat emitting from my body. Hehe...poor guy. I always feel bad for those in the middle seat. Especially on a longer flight. The flight from Houston to Seattle was just around 4 hours, but 4 hours in a tight space can be hard to handle. I was happy to have the window seat each flight.

Seattle was great! What a beautiful place...this was my first trip out there. Gorgeous! The weather was perfect while I was out there. Not the traditional rain that you hear of. And no, I actually did NOT get coffee while out there. Seriously. How could I go to Seattle and not have coffee?! I must be crazy! And I did not eat any seafood while out there either. That's practically "un-American" I was told. Hehe. I will definitely get coffee while out there next time, but I think I will still pass on the seafood...

The business trip was good! I learned so much about the customer and it was great to meet them face to face along with the rest of the account team. I am glad I went! I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the information presented, but it was great to be involved.

Just before I left for Seattle, we noticed that Katie had a couple of strange bug bites. They are pretty nasty and I will spare the details, but after I got back we noticed there were more. We started wondering if it was chicken pox, but they were not itchy and there weren't many. And now, 2 weeks later she is still getting more. They swell up so big and are very painful. So, we are under the assumption that they are fire ant bites. Nasty I tell ya!

Well, we spent the majority of the day in the ER today. One of bites appeared to be infected and she was not able to walk well today. I did send her to preschool, but after an hour they called me in a panic. They said it was swelling and she was really in a lot of pain so they wanted me to come check it out. I decided to just take her to the ER. Long day. So...they had a look. Yep. She has an infection, but since she is limping, let's do an x-ray and some blood work.

OK.

Blood work and Katie. Not a good mix. 4 of us held her down while 1 person drew the blood. And then gave her a SpongeBob sticker. Ha! She still hates you for poking her!!! SpongeBob canNOT take that away!

Anyway...her white blood cell count was 18,000...clearly her body is trying to fight something. Considering she is on antihistamines constantly (and I am told that these tend to LOWER the count) I am glad I took her in.

They did another blood test (I didn't catch the name). They were measuring something that has to do with inflammation of the joints. It came back elevated. So...they were trying to decide between keeping her in the hospital with an IV with antibiotic or sending her home with an antibiotic. They called in the orthopedic doctor to make sure the infection had not spread to her knee joint. Thankfully NO. I found his conversation with Katie interesting. He was a huge SpongeBob fan and they were talking about their favorite episodes and singing. CUTE!

Anyway, they sent us home with an antibiotic. We are scheduled for a followup on Friday. If the patches on her body that have not yet cleared up are not better by then, I am going to ask for a referral to a dermatologist. I am sick of being passed from doctor to doctor with little positive results. There are still the patches on her hands, knees and ankles that have yet to clear up from the eczema breakout in December. The rest of her skin, with the exception of the bug bites, looks beautiful!

I think that's it!! This was the condensed version...

One last thing...please pray for my nephew Owen who has been in the hospital. He is out now, but is still having difficulties.