Celebrating the Season

We have had a wonderful past week. Mason was in a fantastic mood and has been sleeping pretty good throughout the night, falling asleep at 7 pm and sleeping until 4 or 5 in the morning. This morning, he must have been tuckered out from his Monday afternoon with the Lemke kids because he slept until 6:30 am.

Christmas was safe, fun and mostly healthy...like I had prayed for. Mason has been very healthy but I had the opportunity to enjoy the flu for the 4 days I had off of work. Luckily, it came and went pretty fast and our entire house is well again.

Mason enjoyed opening his presents, especially the tearing paper part. He got a sled from Gramma and Grampa Mrdutt and some John Deere toys from Gramma Duck and Papa Rooster (did you see I finally got your name right?). He also received a Handy Manny seat/stroller from Aunt Katie/Uncle Ben, a Betta fish and tank from Uncle Matt/soon-to-be auntie Anna and a driving toy and truck from Aunt Michelle/Uncle Buck. He received many other toys from our extended family resulting in a very packed house!!! Our little house is too small. :) I guess our new house will need to have a play room!!! He has so many new toys that each time we give him a different one its as if he is seeing it for the first time! He's been a movin' and a shakin' around the house...pushing around in his walker opening drawers, throwing toys on the floor and pulling ornaments off the tree. It's so flippin' cute. He's been extremely active which has really helped him to sleep better.

Chris received a Wii for Christmas although I consider it more of a family gift. He threatened me a few weeks back that I shouldn't buy him anything but it had already been purchased. Oops.

I received a toilet for Christmas...or at least that's what I like to say. Our upstairs pooper has been having issues shutting off and started leaking on Saturday so Chris finally gave in and bought a new one. Thanks to Jim and Chris and their fantastic installation- we now have a reliable toilet upstairs! It's very nice, I must say. A lovely pearly white color with a fantastic fit. :)

Chris and I are back to work this week but it's a short week. We have a few invites for New Year's but I am looking forward to sticking around home for a low-key dinner and night with my two boys.

As I sit and ponder how fantastic this last week has been, it's a good reminder of how fortunate we are to have stable jobs, a warm home, food on the table and a few extra bucks to spend how we wish. There are many families out there struggling to keep the lights on, the gas bill paid and their children fed. I pray that they find the strength to endure these hard times. I couldn't imagine waking up without being able to provide basic needs for my family.

As I look forward to 2010 - a new year, a new decade, I have come up with a few New Year's resolutions:

• Take better care of myself. Drink more water, eat healthier and try to get a good night's sleep.
• Don't let things that don't effect me bother me. Let's face it - I have plenty enough to worry about.
• Be more demanding and involved when it comes to Mason's care - whether its his therapies, clinic visits or (dare I say it) hospital stays.
  
• Save money.
• Love more. Hug more. Smile more. Kiss (my hubby) more.
• Enjoy every day....even the hard ones.
  

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are planning for a wonderful 2010!

I can't think of a title

Our little Macemeister is such a sweetheart. He got Mommy and Daddy the BEST Christmas present ever....3 nights in a row without waking up. We're crossing our fingers that tonight will be the 4th. :)

Mason went in for his follow-up appointment after his hospital stay last week. Dr. Shepherd just asked about his temperament, checked his lungs (he was a little wheezy) and checked his ears. He has BAD ear infections in both ears. What is so puzzling about Mason is that you would NEVER know he is uncomfortable...he's been in an absolutely fantastic mood for the past 3 days. It's frustrating though, because now he is back on Amoxicillin, which gives him diarrhea. Mason - where's the gift receipt for this present to Mommy and Daddy?

Mason has another follow-up appointment on January 6th, the day before we head to the cities for Matt and Anna's wedding. Hopefully we get an all-clear because I don't want to put diarrhea pants in a tux. :)

We're looking forward to the next 3 days of Christmas festivities! Tomorrow is the Konkol celebration at Gramma Ducks and Grampa Roosters. Friday is at Gramma and Grampa Henrichs and Saturday Chris and I are hosting our small Mrdutt get-together. Let the merriment begin!

We have an answer!!!

I got a call from one of the residents at St. Joseph's this afternoon. Something actually showed up positive on Mason's labs - adenovirus. Basically, he had an upper respiratory infection from this virus which caused his fevers, diarrhea and croupy type cough! We actually found out what he had!!!

What is weird about the whole thing is that Mason started with seizures and then proceeded to follow with fever. I'm sure he already had the infection starting when the seizures started but the fevers caused the seizures to keep coming. I really want to get through the rest of this flu season with a healthy son so we will take extra precautions to keep him safe....wash his bedding more often, be careful where we set down his food/silverware, etc.

Mason has been so happy to be home today. He's been very playful but you can tell he's still lagging a bit because he gets tired out pretty quickly.

A story I don't think I shared with many yet...

This morning, Mason and I were sitting by the fish tank outside of his hospital room. Down the hall came a Child Life Specialist with a big bag full of toys. She wanted to make sure that Mason got a toy from Santa before he left the hospital. So she pulled out a big duck blanket, then a toy that he ripped open, then a teddy bear, and then another toy. I was in complete shock. I couldn't believe that she kept giving Mason toys! There were still 4 unopened gifts in his bag. She left the bag with us and said that we could take them home to open. I couldn't believe the generosity!!! Chris and I haven't had time to shop for Mason so we hadn't purchased anything for Christmas!!! We are leaving the unopened gifts for Christmas day, because it will truly be a surprise for Mason and us. After the holidays, we really need to do an audit of Mason's toys and we plan to donate many of them to kids that have none.

It was so great to see a smile on his face as he opened the gifts...which gets me very excited for Christmas day!!!

We're going home!!!

Mason had a fairly good night...he didn't sleep much (perhaps all the naps yesterday threw him off) but he seems to be in a pretty good mood. They will do rounds at 9 am ish and we should be in the process of going home (which takes 3-4 hours).

Yay Mace! It's going to be a nice relaxing weekend!!!

Mason doesn't want to sleep!!!

Mason doesn't want to give in for the night...quite the little crabster. He's interested in anything that doesn't have to do with sleep...visiting the fish tank, walking around, watching his movie with the farm animals...anything.

We are going to try and get him settled...in the meantime we are watching Grey's.

It's the last night in the hospital!!!

What Fish Tank

Mace got a visitor today. MICKEY MOUSE. and Pappa Randy and Grandma Duck.... I know he sees them too. He has taken another long nap, which aloud me to watch the Hangover with my Mom. Very interesting movie to watch with your mom. I highly recommend. The X-Ray results came back normal, so baring no fever spike we'll go home tomorrow.

~Dutt

Darn Fish Tank

So we have officially moved our room outside to the fish tank. We can tell that he has been in a hospital for a couple of days because the muscles in his legs have really tightened up. We'll need to get him in the stander and have his brace on at night for a couple of weeks.

They did a couple of X-rays to look closer at his lungs and we don't have those results yet. His WBC is normal, his inflammation has gone down a ton, and his hemoglobin has gone back up. Those are all great signs. Since we have taken him off the antibiotic we plan to stay another night to make sure a fever does not spike up. If we went home and he had a fever we would have to come right back here anyways. He he does spike a fever they'll sedate Mace and do an esophageal echo and a cat scan of his whole body to look for hiding pockets of bacteria or viruses. If he is sadated they'll do an MRI at the same time.

Thats all for now, I hope know one from my insurance company is reading this. If so i'm sure their blood pressure is going up. :)

~Dutt

A Great Night

Mace had a great night once we finally got him to sleep. He has officially been fever free for a whole day. Right now he is sucking down some pedisure through a bottle, and snuggeling with grandma. He woke up around 2:30 and 5:30, which are typical times for mace. They tried to take some blood this morning but were not able to get enough. They'll be coming back later to try again. Up to this point they have been great at finding enough blood.

Mace is probably wondering what he has to do to get back out to the fish tank.

Thats all for now

~Dutt

Mace and the fish tank

So Mace was doing so good we decided to see if he wanted to walk out to the fish tank outside our room. To this point Mace was unaware of everything outside our room. There is a huge fish tank and Christmas trees. So Mace's temp was getting close to 100 when we decided to let him play out by the fish tank. This was fine and dandy until Daddy decided it was time to snuggle and settle down for bed. Well Mace had other ideas he started to scream and stretch towards the door and the fish tank outside. The last thing I wanted was a screaming baby that was now over tired, with a rising temp. Well thanks to Grandmas Barb's help we were able to settle him down and he finally crashed hard. His temp is now back to down to the low 98's.

Hopefully the night is uneventful.
Good night everyone.

~Dutt

He's fighting the urge to sleep!

Mason is doing great...and is fighting the urge to sleep! We have him disconnected from his pulse-ox so we can enjoy some play time!

I am heading home to get some sleep in my OWN bed!!! I have a busy day of work tomorrow, so I'm going to miss my little guy. I'm sure Daddy will be providing plenty of updates.

Hoping for a great night of sleep for all!!!

We're bound and determined!!!

Mason is doing better. He has been awake for awhile now, and isn't too crabby. Dr. Dyke came to visit and we talked about alot of things.

He reassured us that Mason's heart is very strong and we shouldn't be worried when his heart rate is in the 200's.

We talked about the recurrence of these fevers...and the way they have been reappearing every 3 weeks now. He thinks its possible that we are masking an infection with the antibiotics he has been placed on each time. He is going to speak with the residents to try and convince them to take him off the antibiotics.

Care plan:
We will stop antibiotics to see if the fevers return. If they do not - GREAT. However, if they do, Dr. Dyke would want them to do another blood culture and do a echo by sticking a tube down his throat and looking at his heart "from the inside" for potential endocarditis. If nothing is found with the heart, they will call for a full CT scan to look for anything infectious. He would need to be sedated for the echo, so we would possibly discuss with Dr. Koehn to see if we could get an MRI at the same time. *Craziness*

He is also going to call Dr. Brad Sullivan. He is an infectious disease doctor with 30 years experience. We will just see if he has any thoughts...

So it will be an interesting night. I can't figure out what I want more - no fevers so we can go home on Friday or fevers so we can figure out what the heck this is!!!

Mason is better...

Mason seems to be doing better today. He's sleepy, but hasn't had a fever since 6:00 am this morning. He sounds a little congesty...but not bad.

Fr. Gerry was here yesterday to do the Anointing of the Sick with Mason. It was nice to have a visitor, and especially great for him to share that special sacrament with us.

All the prayers and God's healing must be working!

Today's Results

The chest x-ray and urine test were both negative. Blood work will be done tomorrow.

They notified Dr. Dyke that we were here with fever so he may stop by this afternoon.

Chest Xray and Urine Test Complete

They took his urine and did the chest x-ray, in one.

They came in to do his chest xray and he ws totally soaked. They had applied a bag to his "you know what" to collect a urine sample and when they came in, not only was that full, but the entire crib as well.

Waiting to hear the results of both.

Haven't heard from cardiology either...

Today's Plan

We are going to stop the Diazepam when Mason spikes a fever to see what happens (cross your fingers - no seizures!) The Diazepam is causing him to be very lethargic.

They did rounds...so they are going to repeat a urine test and a chest x-ray today. The only thing that has remained high with all his blood tests is his CRP (I have no idea what that stands for). This means that he has some sort of inflammation. Because of it being Day 6 with fevers and inflammation still high, they now need to consult cardiology. We aren't sure if it will be Dr. Dyke that comes to see him or someone else...but they may do an echo.

Tomorrow they are going to do a blood draw for another blood count to check WBC, etc.

Dr. Koehn also stopped by. She is the one that made the decision to stop the diazepam. That means his only anti-seizure drugs are the Tegretol (Carbamazepine) & Keppra. She also said that we are going to hold off on the EEG and MRI until he is healthy. The MRI will be one month out (exactly 1 1/2 years since his last one) and the EEG will likely be in the next few weeks. If we were to do the EEG now, all it would show is that he is on meds that are affecting his brain electricity.

So more tests...and waiting...

Floating Temp

Mason slept from 10:30 pm - 3:30 am. At 3:30 he started to fuss a bit so Barb had them come in and take his temp. It has been floating around from 99.0 - 100.8 for the last 2 1/2 hours. They check it every half hour because they won't give ibuprofen until it reaches 101.

She fed him Pediasure at 4:00 am and he fell back asleep. He's been sleeping off and on until now.

They will be in shortly for his 6:00 am temp check, so hopefully its back down.

Sleeping Soundly

Mason has been sleeping since 10:30. His fever broke while I was holding him so my entire left side is soaked.

The nurses were just in and his temp is down to 97.1. His heart rate is 106 - the lowest it's been all night. It was scaring us getting up into the 210's earlier tonight.

We're trying to get some shut-eye. I've got to say...some nurses need a lesson in tip-toeing.

Fever going up again

His fever was 99.4 at 6:45, and 100.8 at 7:00. They can't give him anything until it hits 101. He's sleeping, but not a deep sleep because he wakes up often.

I need to check his temp soon, I'm sure it won't take long to go up to 101.

Mason is Playful

Mason is the most alert that he has been in the last 5 days. He is watching a movie now.

We've been pushing the liquids because he was a tad dehydrated. His fever is still lingering in the low-grade 99ish level.

They think he may have croup...he had some noisy breathing and a barky cough. They would give us steroids for that, but are waiting until tonight to see how it sounds.

P.S. Gramma Barb is back...and she's doing fine. Some minor car damage that is being repaired.

Fever came down, breathing still labored

Mason is awake, trying to play...but he's lethargic. The seizure drug is to blame.

So far, from a neurologic perspective, he's doing okay...but still got a temp that is rising and falling.

Every single test, including his poop test is negative.

We are out of isolation. Luckily, this isolation period only lasted an hour.

Updates Across the Board

We just received word that Gramma Barb was in a car accident. She is okay. She was on her way back to Eau Claire for a 2:30 appointment and got in an accident near Owen Withee (Hwy 29). No other details yet but we will update everyone when we hear more.

Mason's fever is back, it was 102.3 at 12:15 pm. They gave him more Ibuprofen, Diazepam and his first shot of antibiotics. He is having fever chills and labored breathing.

Oh, and we are in isolation again. Since he is having the poop test done, we shouldn't leave until we get results on that. Oh, and back to the masks.

Prayers please.

Bathtub Pictures!

So I forgot to tell you all about the call I got yesterday!

I got a call from Reliant Rehab. They are the company that is supposed to get us the bath seat and the stroller. Medicaid has approved the purchase of both, but before billing at Reliant can place the order, they need an approval or denial letter from Chris's private insurance. The lady at Reliant has tried contacting our private insurance and hasn't heard from them since Oct. 1.

Well, I left a strongly worded voicemail with our private insurance yesterday to get things moving. I haven't heard back so I will be calling again today. I don't even care if they deny paying it, because once that denial letter is filed, Reliant can get the billing going and order our items.

Today we decided Mason needed a bath...REALLY bad. He hasn't had a bath in 5 days. The nurse brought in a bath seat which is almost identical to the bath seat that we are ordering. Mason loved his bath and spent a little time splashing around!


Nothing is better than the live version. Pardon my super high squeeky voice.




P.S. Mason is sleeping again.

Update after Rounds

So 5 docs came in for rounds...here's an update.

At this point, EVERYTHING has come back negative.

After 5 days of fever (today is day 5) they start to consider inflammatory diseases. At that point, they would involve Dr. Dyke because of the concerns with the heart.

Mason has had diarrhea so they are going to test his stool (ewww, I feel sorry for that lab tech).

They also noticed a red right ear (ear infection) so they are starting him on an antibiotic for 2 times daily for the next 10 days. Since he already has diarrhea and antibiotics CAUSE diarrhea, they are also going to put him on a probiotic. Probiotics counteract the diarrhea. It is unlikely that the ear infection was there the whole time, but rather came about after all this other stuff.

They may book a time on Thursday or Friday for an MRI and hope that we can do it after discharge as an outpatient. An EEG will be done today or tomorrow.

So bring on MORE DRUGS! Ugh.

Sleepy Mace

Mace is dog tired now at 6:45 and his temp is 98.5. The Ibuprofane has worked. They drew blood for another test to check his levels. That's all for now. Back to sleep for everyone in this room.

~Dutt

F*@K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At 10:30 he his temp was 98.4. AT 11:30 it was 101.9. Mason then slept and at 2:30 his temp was 98.4. At 5:30 it's 102.6. I'm running out of words to describe how pissed I'm getting. The second blood culture came back, and you guessed it negative. At rounds today we're going to suggest possibly transferring to a children's hospital. Grandma has been great, and I have been able to get some sleep. I'm hoping if I sleep long enough I'll wake up and everything will be better. It's so upsetting because last night we thought we were rounding a corner. We even got Mason to laugh a little.

I'll update when we know more.

~Dutt

We thought he was down for the night...

Mason fell asleep at 6:00 and we thought he might be down for the night...

Not so!

Thanks Paula for the drums!


Fever hasn't come back since 4pm...not sure what tomorrow holds. Trying to decide if Mom is going to go home for the night or not...

Our current state of mind...

Dr. Koehn's Visit

They gave him Ibuprofen and his temp is back down to normal...

They took blood for another blood culture (since his temp came back) at 4:30.

Dr. Koehn visited at 5:00. We are discussing a possible EEG tomorrow or Wednesday and if he gets better, doing a brain MRI as an outpatient. Mason would need to be sedated and they can't sedate him unless he's healthy. Mason's first brain MRI was in July of 2008, and it is necessary to have 1 1/2 - 2 years in between studies. The brain grows so slow that you need to have a big gap in between studies for comparison. Or at least that's what I'm told.

I asked about flashing lights. I know...weird question...but I had read that flashing lights can cause a seizure. Not so...at least not with the type of seizures that Mason has.

The bottom-line is: We don't know shit. However, they may decide to test his shit. That's the only thing they haven't tested.

P.S. - We are losing it. LOL

Mom is back (and so is the fever)

So they wanted to keep him off the ibuprofen and tylenol to see if the fever came back...and it did...it's 102.1.

His H1N1, RSV and regular flu all came back negative. Good...but still leaves us with questions. Now we don't have to wear the masks!!!

Today is turning out to be a crappy day. On my way back to Marshfield, my driver's side windshield wiper flew off and got ran over by oncoming traffic. It's not a good winter day to lose a windshield wiper...

Ugh...ready for some good news...or at least a little laugh. Anyone got some jokes?

Wakie Wakie Mace

Well it's noon and Mace has woken up. He woke up pretty happy but within 15 minuets you could tell there is still something making him feel uneasy. When you look into his eyes you can tell he is not normal. The Micky Mouse DVD's give him a smile for couple of seconds. We tried feeding him so baby food but he wasn't in the mood. We're waiting for some pedisure without fiber to give to him. We'll give him that instead of milk to help keep his calorie intake up. I just hope and pray that his fever does not return. I have a gut feeling that it will. I hope Mace proves me wrong. Just got word that Doc. Keohn will be able to see us after 3:0o today so hopfully we have some test results to go over with her.

Thats all for now.

~Dutt

Back at the Fort

Well I'm back at the hospital fort and Mace is still sleeping since Grandma Duck arrived. His temp as stayed down and his pulse is down to 115 range instead of the 150-170 he was at last night. Thats a good sign. They plan to take him off Tylenol and Ibuprofen this afternoon to see if his fever comes back. If it does they'll take more blood immediately to try to find out what is doing this. I'll be going back to Portage County around 1:oo for an interesting Court Case. Hopefully his head brain doc will be here before I leave.

Besides that we'll let him sleep. It's giving his body a chance to get used to the barage (sp?) of new meds.

~Dutt

No fever since midnight

Mason's temp is gone...he's a little irritable...so he's still receiving ibuprofen and tylenol. When he was awake this morning, he was out of it, but it's probably because he's getting used to his new meds. He's on so many meds, it's ridiculous - Tegretol, Keppra, Baclofen, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Diazepam & Prevacid.

It's a good thing they keep track and bring the drugs in when he's due because we don't have a clue.

Gramma Duck is here with Mason...I am heading into work for a bit to evaluate my workload for the week, and Chris should be back here at the hospital by 10:00/10:30 am.

The roads are icky, so a part of me wants to just hang tight...

We'll post later when some of the results come back.

So So Night

The good news is we have been able to keep Mace's fever down since midnight. So he was able to sleep semi ok. That means that Mom and Dad were able to get a couple of hours each. We did notice that Mace was still a little restless trying to sleep. He would violently arch his back a couple times in a row then try to nestle in to sleep. Five minuets would go by and he would arch again. We do not know what is causing this and this is new for Mace. We hope he is not reacting to a new drug. We'll see what the day brings. I'm going into work for a Board of Adjustment meeting then I'll be back to hopefully get some answers from the multiple test their running.

Be back in a bit little buddy.
~Dutt

I'm all out of clever titles

It's amazing how fast Mason's fever takes over when the meds wear off. His temp was up to 101.4 again so he received ibuprofen. Daddy also gave him milk to help calm his tummy for the night.

He's uneasy, lots of jerks in trying to fall back asleep. He had a good wet diaper (that's for you Barb!) so he's still getting plenty of liquids.

Daddy has been super and let me get 2 hours of sleep already. I'm not exactly sure why he's sucking up and being so nice. :)

Iron Chef is on T.V. so it's distracting me from going back to sleep. That...and the uneasy baby in the room.

We're doing okay...

Oh how I miss you Mr. Sleep

Mason is sleeping, as of 8:00 pm. They gave him the Diazepam and we're pretty sure it knocked him out. His heart rate and temp was starting to climb again so he received tylenol at 7:40 pm.

Chris and I really need to catch some shut-eye since Mason is sleeping, but we know they will be in at 9:00 with more meds & some milk for Mace, so we're hesitant to even lay down yet.

Mason feels pretty cool at this point, only has a low-grade temp so we're hoping it stays down...

We'll have more test results tomorrow (H1N1 & blood culture).

Nighty night for now!

It's Baaaaack

Mason woke up at 4:00 from a good 2 1/2 hour nap...he started getting fever chills again and his temp was 102. We have all the doctors stunned...even on fever reducers this fever is popping up.

It's gonna be a long night. Gramma Duck is coming here tomorrow morning to watch Mason so Chris and I can get to work to check in on a few things. Chris is coming back mid-day and I am coming back late afternoon to relieve Gramma Duck. Chris then needs to head back late afternoon for a meeting. Then, depending on how things are going...Gramma Barb may come back tomorrow night.

It's hard to have only one person here with Mason at a time because he takes so much cuddling and you really can't put him down for a bathroom break or anything. 2 people minimum is really necessary to keep him happy.

We are determined to get some answers...

Grrrrrrrr ,, Pissed off Daddy

Well his fever is back. It went up from 99 to 102 in a half hour. So he is back on the ib profin. I agree with my wife.... THIS SUCKS. We still have no idea whats causing this. He is showing no signs of a cold, flu, ear ache, head ache, or any other aches I can't think of. The WBC if normal so that makes this even more confusing. One of these test has to come back positive our we're going to go nuts. Kinda sucks that we're hoping for a positive result, but at least then we know what we're fighting.
Mace is now back asleep so we can semi enjoy the packer game. If anyone is in Marshfield can you bring me some Jack, I think i'm going to need some.

~Dutt

RSV and H1N1 test

This totally sucks. They are going to swab him for RSV and H1N1 meaning that we now have to wear masks and are quarantined to the room again. This sucks.

It is unlikely that he has either, but Mason has surprised us before. I think they (nurses and docs) know how unlikely it is too. But it's protocol.

Did I mention this SUCKS?

They are holding off before giving him more ibuprofen because his temp is down...they want to see if his fever broke or if we're just masking it. No other symptoms yet.

Talked with the neurologist on call. She is pretty certain that these seizures came from his fever...but again, no idea what is causing the fever. I can't believe that they can't figure this out. They can't blame it on an ear infection this time because they had an attending doctor check his ears and she said they look fine.

Dr. Koehn is on hospital duty starting tomorrow so we hope to see her and talk about his new anti-seizure plan with the Keppra instead of the Tegretol.

We are all going to watch the game here. Chris and I are heading home after the game and will be packing for a few more nights, just in case. Don't have a clue what the plan for the week is, but I have to say how appreciative I am of all the help that has been offered and given thus far.

Attached is a picture of our little Macemeister. He's a tad crabby, but still managed a smile for the camera:

Fever still up

Mason's tests all came back fine. This is a big puzzle for everyone.

We can't get Mason's fever to come down. It's staying in the 101 - 102 range and then peaks before meds are due. They are going to check it every 2 hours. He just had a rectal temp of 101.6.

He is starting to get maxed out on his daily intake of Tylenol. We need to get this temp down soon...or we are going to have a bear of a son when only Ibuprofen is given.

We all had a crazy night with not much sleep but we're doing okay.

New Anti-Seizure Med

They put Mason on a new anti-seizure med...Keppra. He has been on Tegretol (Carbamazepine) since June of 2008...and with seizures popping up continuously this fall now, the on-call neurologist thinks that perhaps it isn't being as effective as it once was. The most likely side effect of Keppra is irritability...which is definitely not something we want...but we will watch him to see how he does on it. He is still getting the valium suspension drug every 8 hours and tylenol/ibuprofen regimen every 3 hours. The ibuprofen seems to be the one controlling his fever the best...as when it is time for the new dose...his fever starts climbing again.

Test results thus far:
WBC - Normal. This is extremely puzzling because his WBC shot up so high about 6 weeks ago and they attributed it to seizures. The seizures this time around are much more intense and haven't caused his WBC to budge at all. Also, whatever is causing his fever is probably viral and usually WBC would be up with that...right?

Tegretol level in blood - This could take a few days...but won't matter much now that they are switching him to Keppra.

Chest x-ray - haven't heard anything yet. We assume its fine but will check with docs in morning.

Urine test - no results yet.

The way his fever has been climbing back up every 5 hours...its not likely we'll be going home Sunday. In the morning I will need to make preparations for work and work out a schedule with Chris for being here with Mason. It's hard being stuck at a hospital without the same conveniences of home...but this is the best place we could be right now for our little tyke. I've got to say too: Gramma Barb is the most patient, loving Gramma that Mason could have. Chris and I will never be thankful enough for all her help in situations like this. Her nursing background is super helpful, especially when my/Chris's brains seem to stop working in high-stress situations.

We're all laying down to rest again...Gramma Barb is holding Mason, who slept for 1 1/2 hours, was up for just as long, is now sleeping again...

Sleepy angel

Mason has been sleeping since 7 pm. His temp is back down to normal and he hasn't had any more seizures. The Diastat must have worked.

Mason is going to get some milk and meds...so hopefully that's enough to keep him content for the night.

We're praying for a peaceful night.

Whew...catching our breath.

For the last post, yes, I mean Mason...not Chris. Wow - had a *blonde* moment. No offense blondes.

Mason had a seizure at 5:30 pm that lasted 90 seconds and a seizure at 6:00 pm that lasted 60 seconds. The nurses witnessed both episodes. They gave him a tylenol supository to bring his fever down (102.7 at 5:45 pm) and just gave him Diastat to stop these fevers. He is trying to poop out the Diastat but we are pinching his butt cheeks because the Diastat needs 5 minutes in there to absorb.

Mason isn't eating at this point...hasn't eaten since this morning because he didn't have an appetite and now we can't give anything for fear of him aspirating into his lungs.

We are hoping this Diastat allows him to rest a bit...he's had a crazy afternoon. We are in room 341 at St. Joes...but if you want info...send Chris or I an email...so we don't wake up Mason.

3 tests...and an overnight stay...

Chris had a urine test, blood test and chest x-ray in the last 2 hours. He's very tired, but it's hard to sleep in these rooms with all the interruptions and the bright lights. Plus, he's probably hungry...

They are going to admit us tonight to monitor him and see if we can get some answers. We told them our frustration with having this occur every 3 weeks...for the past 9 weeks we have been at this hospital 3 times.

Mason is settling in now...I am going to grab a bite to eat and prepare for our night at the hospital...

Mace Meister is sleeping...

Mason is asleep in the bed here in the ER. His temp rectally was 100.6 and he hasn't had a seizure since 10 am. They checked his ears and the right one was a little pink and the left one had too much wax to see.

The ER doctor is calling the on-call peds doctor and the on-call peds neurologist and we are looking at a potential blood test, urine test and chest xray. We aren't sure if the peds doctors will agree but the 104.7 temp is something that they aren't treating lightly.

We'll update more when we know more...

All I want for Christmas is some answers

Mason had a rough night. He fell asleep last night at about 6:00 pm and over the course the of night, had a few seizures. At 8 am, he had a teeny-meeny seizure that lasted about 10 seconds and Gramma Barb said "Enough of this, he's getting the carbamazepine suspension". He received that at 8 am. (.3 mL). At 10 am, he had a seizure that lasted 2 minutes...his longest seizure to date. Gramma Barb gave him Tylenol to try and bring his fever down, and at 10:30, he registered an axillary temp of 104.7. (Forgive the details...its the only way I can go back for reference).

She called Chris and I...I called the nurse line at Marshfield Clinic - and we are now in transit to the ER in Marshfield. We have a concern with the seizures but we need to find out where this high temp is coming from...the nurse mentioned a few possibilities - urinary tract infection, ear infection, possibly swine flu.

So I am at home, making plans to potentially be "admitted" over at Marshfield today. Chris and Barb are on their way from the farm and are meeting me with Mason in Marshfield. It's a 2 hour drive, so I hope its going okay. Matt - I am soooo sorry to pull away your bro for your bachelor party today...we promise to make it up to you...

I am trying to call everyone with updates...but everytime things like this come up...I realize just how HUGE our family and friend network is...so I apologize if you get first-hand knowledge from the blog. Honestly though, this is probably the quickest way to get an update.

So HI HO, HI HO, It's off to Marshfield I go....

I'll post when I get a moment to breathe and collect...

Gray Hair #367

Mason is such a stink-pot. I'm starting to think he has an agenda. He knows Mom and Dad are going to be at a work party tonight and he wants to make sure that he is the 1st thing on our mind.

Grampa Randy and Gramma Duck dropped Mason off with Gramma Barb at 3:30 today. Shortly thereafter, on the way back to the farm, Mason had a seizure that lasted 35 seconds.

Mason - I'm very sorry that I'm not with you right now, but you are in the best of hands with Gramma/Nurse Barb. Don't have any more seizures and scare us, okay?

We'll keep everyone updated...

Mason's Newest Skill

Mason has been taking off developmentally as of late. He's been walking like crazy, has really done great with grabbing toys, and has started to show a lot of curiosity in exploring his surroundings. His fine motor skills could still use some work, but he's been doing new things that have really excited all his family and his therapists. His favorite habit when he's in his walker or high chair with toys is to push them off the edge and give us a funny look like "Are you going to pick that up for me now?"

Last night his curiosity got the best of him...and he learned how to open kitchen drawers.

It is so adorable, because he would get so excited pulling the drawer open and then shutting it again. You just have to see it:



I have a feeling this new skill is going to cause us trouble down the road...
*Smiles*

Are you sure he's only part Polish?

For those of you that haven't yet heard this story...it's better late than never.

This weekend, my Dad, Chris, Matt & Jim all decided to take down the garage at our property (the only thing left after our "house burning" from 2 months ago).

Chris was inside of the garage cutting the stringers so the boards could be saved.

Well, talk about wrong place at the wrong time...the roof and one wall collapsed, on top of Chris. One wall also pushed Jim out of the way...throwing him a good 10 feet. Both of them blacked out for a moment and both of them are very sore even 3 days later.

The girls were not at the house at the time this happened, with the exception of Anna, Michelle and Haley (Mic and Haley seeing it happen from Mom and Dad's place) who then ran over to help. Matt and my Dad lifted the wall/roof off of Chris, who's first comment was "Thank goodness the girls weren't here"...and he's right...I would have flipped out.

We are very thankful to have Chris and Jim with us today...as it could have been much worse. The boys will never live this down...and I am still shocked at how it even happened in the first place.

Christmas Home Preparations

We all have stockings. Even Addy.
I'm looking for a brown one though, with a doggie bone on it. :)

Our gorgeous nativity set. I got this as a gift from Barb a few years back and it's my favorite thing to set up every holiday.

This is the first year we have put up decorations outside...and all I got done was the two arbor vitae's in the front. If I get motivated...I'd like to do more...

Did I mention that Mason LOVES christmas lights? :)