the one where drew comes home

I'm feeling a bit better, but Sam is getting worse. We stayed home from church today and got to bring Drew home. We are still waiting on test results, but some of them won't be back until Wednesday. Depending on those results, Drew might have to go back to Primary Chidren's to get IV medications. We are somewhat quarantined until we know what he has. If he can't stay hydrated, he'll have to go back on IV fluids. We have to keep blankets under Drew and then wash them every few hours. No one is allowed to be right where he is so we can hopefully keep anyone else from getting sick. We have 2 super soft blankets from Costco. I brought one up for Drew. When Owen saw me about to cover Drew with it, he lunged for Drew's couch, crying, "Noooooooo!" He burst into tears the second it touched Drew because that meant it was contaminated and he couldn't use it. My mom and I ended up running to Costco for super soft princess and Spiderman blankets so everyone could have their own.

awesome neighbors

I've been feeling kind of sick for about a week, but I've gotten so much worse. I was bone-cold last night. I laid in bed with 3 comforters and a sleeping bag over me, but I could not stop shivering. I woke up once an hour all throughout the night. My throat feels like it's about the diameter of a pencil. My dad headed up to the hospital and my mom came home. A blessing and a Lortab later, I was feeling human again. My grandma and grandpa brought the kiddos back home and now Sam is feeling sick.

I've posted about the Marsden's a few times. They have gone to Goblin Valley and Capitol Reef with us a couple of times. Today Dave took Owen to his house so my mom and I could each have a nap. Later Owen came downstairs and told us Kimberly was going to stop by later. My mom and I came upstairs and heard the clicking of the stove starting. Thinking it was Sam trying to roast a marshmallow or something equally as messy, she called out "What are you doing?" Before we turn the corner into the kitchen, Kimberly responds, "I've come to make you dinner!" We have awesome friends who take rambunctious, contagious 4-year-olds who can't play with friends and then make us yummy dinner. The Marsden clan is planning on coming to our house for Thanksgiving. We'll see if we can get everyone healthy by then.

hospital: day 3

Thanks to Siri, I navigated myself through Salt Lake for the first time today. Owen and I decided to go visit Drew. He had to wear a mask because of the sores on his face, so I'm sure plenty of people we passed thought he was the patient.

Rainbow pony in front of the hospital.

My mom told owen about the Superman and Spiderman at the hospital. He demanded a picture. This is what we got.

When we got to the hospital, Owen needed to have pictures of his own.
Drew was awake for a little longer today, but he's still not ready to come home. We didn't quite get the news we hoped for. Drew has infection in his ear and in the bone behind it. He also has sores on his head, mostly in his hair. Dermatologists made a visit and they're not sure what it is. They're running some tests, but they're pretty sure it's a virus. Antivirals have been added to his doses of antibacterials, so hopefully we'll see some improvement. It is likely the sores are either Herpatic or Chicken Pox. Depending on the test results, he may be in the hospital for another week. We are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so hopefully we can get him home and feeling better by then. 

I started feeling sick, so my grandma and grandpa picked up the other kiddos and let them spend the night at their house. 

One of Drew's sores had to be broken in order to get a swab for a test. Afterwords, the nurse came in with a mask and full body gown. She told us the dermatologists had been talking in the hall and decided that whatever Drew has is likely contagious and, because the sore was broken, was now airborne, and we had all been exposed. We were moved into a Bubble Boy room with it's own air system. An alarm went off every time the door was opened. This silly ear infection he had last week has become a big deal. Drew has zero energy. He has a Playstation in his room, but he hasn't even touched it. He pretty much sleeps all day. We finally got him to eat today. 
mask & full-body gown.
This giraffe was the source of the only smile we've seen from Drew. Owen wasn't ready to give him up, but Drew loves him. He has a whole giraffe collection. My mom thinks his name should be Gus, to rhyme with all the pus draining out of his ear.

The only improvement we've seen is the reduction of pressure in his ear from getting tubes. Hopefully the antivirals will start to help. 




hospital: day 2

Drew had tubes put in his ear today, so hopefully he will start getting better. He might be able to come home tomorrow, if he doesn't need an IV anymore. Owen is still home-bound, due to the sores on his face, and he is really missing his friends. I worked hard to keep him entertained, but throughout the day, I kept noticing his fascination with getting taller. He stood against the wall and measured himself no less than 15 times today. So I decided to ask him about it.

Me: Owen, why are you measuring yourself. Owen: To see if I got taller. Me: Why do you want to be taller? Owen: I want to be bigger than all my friends. Me: Why's that? Owen: I just want to get taller, so I can be a grown up so I can unlock dad's iPad because his has a password.

I tried getting kids to help clean once they got home from school, but we didn't have much success. Ainsley was beside herself because I was a meannie who made her clean and she just wanted Jessica (my roommate) because she would be nice to her and let her do her hair and not make her clean anything.

Owen has really been into rhyming for a while. He is particularly fond of the letter D. Examples:  Ains-a-Dains, Fin-a-Din, Kens-a-Dens, Sam-a-Dam, Owen-Dowen, Mom-a-Dom. But he runs into trouble once he gets to Drew or Dad.

the one where I got a bad text

You can tell you're going to have a bad day if you wake up to a text that reads "call me when you get this" from your mom. It was early, before I was fully functional, but my inquisitive mind pushed me to call her back. No answer. So I called my dad. No answer. At this point, my need for extra sleep overtook my curiosity. I woke to Sam calling me on my dad's phone. My mom and dad had taken Drew to Primary Children's in the middle of the night because his ear got worse. My mom called me back, explaining that the machines in the hospital cause poor reception. She asked if there was any way I could come home and I told her I had already taken care of what I needed to so I could come. My Thanksgiving Break started a couple of days early. Owen has sores on his face (we think it's Hand Foot Mouth) so he was sad that he couldn't go anywhere. We had fun painting with the girls once they got home from school. Owen: Kensie, pretend you don't know your left. Me: Okay, why? Owen: *holds up fingers in L shape* Which one is the L? Me: *points to left fingers* Owen: Good job! You're correct! And now you know which one's left. *shrugs/smirks* That's just a little trick I made up.