New Posts

I couldn't sleep this morning, so instead of fighting myself trying to go back to bed, I thought I'd blog a little. Be sure and read all the way down as there are 4 new posts!

I hope you enjoy your Saturday! I'm headed to Groom this morning for an Uppercase Living open house that Sandie and Marcia are having for me. It's my first party and I'm a little nervous, but comforted at the same time that there will be many familiar faces there! Hopefully it will be a great party and everyone will have fun.

I'll post some pictures of my latest creations later this afternoon.

Wish me luck!

~jen

Codyism

I'm not sure I've ever posted a Codyism before. I've done several Cadenisms, but I think this is a first for Cody.

Yesterday after picking Cody up, I could tell he was excited. He had the biggest grin on his face while walking towards the car. I knew something was up with this child.

I asked what he was smiling about. He answered that first, he had made a 91 on his Biology 6 week's exam (hallelujah)... we were both smiling at that point... and that he and Chase had come up with some plans for this summer. (Chase is one of his best friends and his good golfing buddy.)

I was curious about these plans for the summer.

It wasn't much longer and I heard the words... you know he's turning 16 in a couple of months.

There are 2 things (well, there are probably more than 2, but for now... we'll just focus on 2) that I am dreading over the next 13 months: Cody's friends who will be turning 16 over the summer months and Cody turning 16 next March.

Without pause, Cody quickly begins spilling the plans. First, we plan on taking a trip together to New Mexico to play a little golf at Sandia.

I looked at him and asked "BY YOURSELVES?" (calmly, of course).

Cody, dumbfounded and in awe that his mother was asking that question answers (while rolling his eyes none-the-less), "yes... just the 2 of us... what's wrong with that?"

"Let me count the number of wrongs with that plan. #1 no. #2 no. #3 no. You are not driving anywhere long distance with a 16 year old. No."

(I am sure Chase will be a very responsible 16 year old driver, but I was once 16... and it wasn't that long ago... I remember and I know what 16 year olds do once they get behind the wheel a few times!)

Cody, quick with a response to any no... "Well, what about Dallas? That's our 2nd plan for the summer."

Me: "What about Dallas?"

Cody: "We thought we could drive to Dallas to play golf and stay with Granny and Papa or Marie and Joey. You know, I could go visit them while we are there."

(Awe, that's sweet of you Cody to want to go visit your great-grandparents and aunt/uncle/cousin, but the answer will still be no.)

Me: "If I won't let you go to New Mexico, what makes you think I'm going to let you and Chase drive the same distance but in a different direction? NO, Cody."

Cody: Ever quick on the draw... "Can we at least drive to Dalhart to play golf with Russell?"

Me: (long explanations are not working at this point, desperation is starting to set in) "No."

Cody: (sighing) "What about Plainview, can we at least (sarcasm's setting in) drive down to Plainview to play golf?"

Me: (time to nip this in the bud) "You will not be traveling further than Canyon (15 minutes south of Amarillo for you non-local readers!) with any one who is 16. Period. End of discussion."

End of discussion never works.

Cody: "What about north of Amarillo, how far can we go?"

Me: "Don't push it Cody."

I did eventually explain to Cody my reasons why he couldn't go and he reluctantly, and all the while he thought his mother was crazy, accepted.

Later that night, the discussion came up with Mike. Mike's answer after rolling in laughter was "you're not driving anywhere past 45th and Bell with Chase!"

I told him he could at least go to Arden road, so Chase could occasionally bring Cody home from golf!

~jen

Spring Picture

Here's Caden's spring school picture. Sweet, sweet Caden. You make me smile!

~jen

Another thanks

I just want to say thank you to my parents who could not be here during Cody's surgery. Thank you for listening to my tearful calls. Thank you for your financial support. Thank you for your prayers. We appreciate everything you have done for us over the past several weeks.
I love you both very much.
Thank you for everything.
~jen

More thank you's

I've gotten terribly behind in my thank you's.

Thanks to Angie and family for Cody's UT shirt. If that didn't cheer him up, I don't know what would have!

Thanks to Marie and family for the gift cards for the boys (Caden was so excited to get one!). The notes you wrote to the boys were very sweet. Thank you for sending them.

Thank you to Marcia for coming to visit Cody and for all of your help with Caden. We appreciate everything that you did.

In case I'm leaving any one out... thank you all for everything that you did for us while Cody was in the hospital. I know a number of you said prayers and those prayers were the greatest gifts we could have received. Thank you.

~jen, mike, cody, and caden

Basketball Pictures

Here's some pictures of Cody's last basketball game. It was a great game with a come behind win against Tascosa. I am so happy that Cody had a great game as it was his last game of his freshman year. Thanks to all the family who came to watch Cody and support the Sandies. Thanks to Angie for taking these pictures.

Hopefully there will be more pictures to come this fall!
~jen

Cadenism

Cadenism #1
This is priceless!



"George Washington was our first President. A long time ago, he whacked down the cherry tree." ~Caden, age 6

Michael's reaction to reading this... I didn't know GW was in the mafia. Whacked. Get it? :)


Cadenism #2
Caden: Mom do you know what your butt is called? (Pause) Your Gluteus Maximus.
Me: Yes, Caden I know. Let's not say butt anymore.


Cadenism #3
A few days ago I overheard Caden getting ready for his bath. I think he bumped his knee against the tub because I heard him yell, "Owe, I hurt my patella"!

~jen

Home at last...

(Sorry I'm just now updating my blog. It's been a busy week so far!)

Cody was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon. I've never been so happy to have him home as I was that afternoon. He stayed at home from school yesterday to rest and tried to start the daunting task of making up a week's worth of work and studying for the tests he missed.

He returned to school today. We decided to let him travel to Lubbock this afternoon with his basketball team for their last game. I decided to not go to the game tonight. I am exhausted... still. As much as I want to be at the game to support the team, I just need to stay home. I hope he will have a great trip and his team will play well. It's sad to see his season end. I feel he was cheated. I was cheated. I didn't get to watch him play as much as I wanted. I know I am being selfish. I know I am having a pity-party for myself. But it's my party and I'll cry if I want to.

Thanks to all of you who called, emailed, prayed, sent a card, and/or visited him while he was in the hospital. We really appreciate the concern and support you showed to Cody and us.

~jen

One more day?

It looks like we are staying at least one more day. Cody has developed some stomach cramping this morning. The doctor thinks it is best to stay one more day... just to be safe. I'm all about being safe. As much as I want him home, I want him to be home when he's physically ready.

He's done well today other than the occasional cramps. He's watching the UT/Colorado basketball game right now. He should have his IV hep-locked soon (he'll be off of IV fluids, but the IV catheter will remain in just in case he needs medication through the IV). I think he and I will take a walk to the cafeteria tonight to eat supper. Maybe he'll enjoy getting out of his room for a little while.

The doctor said he could return to school as early as Monday if he felt like it. His basketball season is over. His last game is Tuesday in Lubbock. He had planned to switch his schedule back to golf this week and rejoin the golf team. The doctor said he can start putting and chipping this week, but will have to wait 3 weeks before he can pick up a driver and fully swing a club.

So that's where we are today. Hopefully he will do ok the rest of the day. Hopefully the stomach cramping will subside. Hopefully he will be ready to go home tomorrow.
Hopefully.

~jen

A good day...

Cody had a good day today. He was all smiles for the majority of the day. He had lots of visitors today. 2 of his teammates came this evening with a basketball that was signed by all his teammates. I know that will be something he will cherish forever.

2 of his classes made cards for him that were delivered today. That brought a smile to his face. Especially when one of the cards was delivered by 2 freshman girls. A little while later, 2 senior varsity basketball girls stopped by with get-well wishes as well. Bigger smiles then.

I even got a smile for my camera!

Cards from classmates and even one from Caden!

A snack and gift card basket from our good friends Bobby and Shannon.

The ivy was from Honda.

This one reassures me that he is ok. :)

~jen

Good News

Cody got his NG tube out this morning. I got to see a smile that I haven't seen in over a week. You don't even know how much that means. I've missed that smile more than anything.

His surgeon came this morning and said everything looks good. If he continues to do as well as he has, there is a chance we can go home tomorrow afternoon. Now that the tube is out, Cody can have anything that he can see through to eat... jello, juice, broth, Popsicles. Tomorrow, he gets to have solid foods. I noticed this morning while walking the halls with him that his leg muscles look smaller. I would imagine this has taken a toll on his body. He's ready to go home. I've promised him a chocolate cake. I'm ready to get home and bake him his chocolate cake.

I went home last night. It was my first trip home for more than an hour. I was stir crazy so I got caught up on folding laundry and tiding up my house. As much as I needed to sleep, I actually just needed something to do. I passed by Cody's room several times and each time my heart just broke. I am so ready to have him home in his bed. I am so ready for all of this to be past him so he can resume his life! He's missed out on so much already. I just pray that the rest of his freshman year will be uneventful! I am so ready to be able to cook a meal for my family. I am so ready for Caden to have a normal life again. He's been shuffled from place to place, spent more hours than he wanted to cooped up in a hospital room.... but he's done it all without one complaint.

Hopefully it won't be much longer and things will return to normalcy (well... as normal is for our family!). :)

I'll update later tonight.

Update

Nothing new to share today. Cody slept well last night. He's not in much pain, just discomfort from the NG tube and having some abdominal soreness.

His surgeon's already rounded this morning. He didn't really have much to report. Everything looks good. His bowels are starting to wake up, but Cody's not ready to have the NG tube removed today. We may not have to stay a full week like was originally planned... but close to it. It sounds like once the tube is removed, Cody will advance each day from clear liquids to soft foods to solid foods. So maybe 3 or so more days assuming he tolerates everything.

We had a few visitors yesterday. A couple of Cody's teammates came and visited with him for a little while. His Geography teacher stopped by to see him. She said many of Cody's classmates had been asking how Cody was so she asked if she could report back to the class what had happened and how he was doing. I thought that was very nice of her to come by and to offer to share to his class what's happened.

We've had lots of family here to see Cody. Marcia, Karen, Sandie, Hope, Angie, Toby, Rebecca... thank you for coming to check on Cody.

Russell, thanks for driving all the way from Dalhart and letting Cody borrow your PSP (hand-held game system).

Honda sent a pretty ivy complete with a Sandies/Steelers theme (black and yellow bow and football). Some good friends of ours sent a basket full of snacks, water, Gatorade, fruit, magazines, and a gift card to Game Stop for Cody... thanks, Bobby and Shannon... we appreciate it.

Mike's aunt and uncle in Colorado sent an email that they had added Cody's name to their prayer list... thanks, Dan... prayers are always appreciated.

Cody's new cell phone arrived yesterday, so he is giving his fingers a work-out catching up on texting his friends. It's amazing how much texting goes on during the school hours! Hmm... may have to address that once we are out of the hospital! :)

That's about all I have today. We've already walked the halls this morning. Cody has been informed that he is showering today. No ifs, ands, or buts about that one. It's been 3 days and someone is getting a little ripe. Plus, the shower will make him feel good. It will also make him feel good to get some real clothes on.

Well... that's all for now. It's shower time! Wish us luck!

~jen

Update

Cody is asleep right now. It hasn't been necessarily a good day, but not too bad of one either. Cody slept off and on last night. He started running a temperature during the night, so the nurse tech was in quite often taking his temperature. It never got to 101 so that saved him from a Tylenol suppository. Around 4 this morning he stood up at the side of the bed to weigh. Apparently the optimal time to weigh a patient is around 4 am. No joking... that's what the nurse said.

Cody was so desperate for some kind of liquid last night that his nurse finally gave into Cody's multiple requests for water. She brought him some sponge swabs in a cup of ice. He was given strict orders to only put the swabs in his mouth, not the ice. It wasn't long before I heard the crunching of ice. In nursing school we were told of patients who were NPO (nothing to eat or drink) and who were so desperate for fluids that they would actually drink the water from the toilet. Now, I don't think Cody's that desperate, but he was getting there! I had to take away his ice multiple times. I'd watch him hold the swab into the ice long enough for the ice to freeze to it and then he would sneak that piece of ice into his mouth. After a few pieces, I had to take away his ice for good. It just about broke my heart.

His surgeon came by this morning. He said Cody's labs looked good. He's going to repeat them in the morning. He explained to Cody that he's going to have his NG tube for several more days. Cody could have cried when he told him that. He's asked everyone new that has come into his room if he can have the tube out. However, the doctor did say Cody could have an 8 ounce cup of ice twice a day. AND... he could chew gum. Cody also had his catheter taken out. This afternoon he walked the halls. We have 3 more walking sessions ahead of us.

Overall he's doing ok. His spirits are very low. Part of that is just the physical aspects of the surgery... he's sore and hurting. He can't eat or drink. He's realized that his freshman year basketball season is over. It's quite possible that his golf season may be over as well. Only time will determine that one. He misses his friends. He lost his cell phone over the weekend, so we've ordered him a new one which should be delivered to the house this afternoon. Hopefully that will cheer him up. He'll soon have a tool to communicate with his friends.

Caden's doing ok. He made Cody a special valentine at school yesterday and gave it to Cody before he went to surgery. He asked Mike this morning if he could see Cody today after school. He's gone to daycare for a little while this afternoon and then he will be brought up here. He's doing well being shuffled around.

As for Mike and I, we're ok. Just taking this one day at a time and trying not to worry too much into the future. Mike returned to work today. I know it's probably hard on him not being here, but realistically and financially, one of us has to work.

Hopefully Cody will continue to do well. We've been put on a waiting list to move rooms. All day long we've listened to the soothing, healing sound of a..... jack hammer. Our hospital is in the middle of construction projects. I would imagine there is not a "good" time to jack hammer in a hospital, but man... enough is enough. The hammering started just as our surgeon made rounds and he was not pleased to say the least! He wanted us moved ASAP. Hopefully he will get his way on this one... soon. I don't know how Cody is sleeping through it! I'll email if we switch rooms so you will know where we are.

Guess this is all for now. I'd like to take a nap, but the jack hammering is just too much for me!

~jen

11 hours later...

So much can change over the course of 11 hours. This morning we thought we were going to take a wait and see approach and were hopeful that the obstruction would resolve on it's own. Unfortunately, Cody's body had a different plan and decided enough was enough. Cody began experiencing increased abdominal pain this afternoon and the decision was made to operate.

Cody went into surgery about 2:45 and 2 hours later we finally discovered the extent of the obstruction. We were given actual pictures of Cody's bowels and the aftermath of the removal of the scar tissue. I am not able to scan the pictures from our laptop (and some of you may not want to see them), but basically just imagine your bowel having a rubber band around it. The surgeon described it as Cody's small intestine was having a heart attack. The tissue was slowly being closed off from the blood supply. The constriction was causing all of the stool and gas in his bowels to backup and making the intestines dilate (get bigger). This was causing the intense abdominal pain. The surgeon was able to do the surgery via laparoscopy(4 small incisions).

Cody is doing well right now. He's been asleep since he got to the floor (about 5:30). He has a PCA (patient controlled anesthesia) to control his pain. I call it his magic button. I was so happy to see it on his IV pole when he got to the room. He still has his tubes. We were told to expect to be here for a week. This isn't something that he will easily recover from. It's going to be a long haul. But, we've made it this far and hopefully the worst is behind us and Cody will return to being an active, healthy teenager.

Thank you all for the calls, emails, and offers to help where needed. Over the next few days, I may be calling to claim those offers to help. I'll post updates through the blog as I have more information. Hopefully I'll be able to post something in the morning and evening of each day.

Prayers are still appreciated as we still have a long recovery ahead of us.

~jen

Update

Cody rested somewhat during the night. He's not having any more abdominal pain. He seemed to have some moments of confusion last night, but he seems to be more oriented this morning. He's struggling with not being able to eat or drink. He desperately wants the tubes out of his body. Unfortunately, we have to follow the doctor's orders so that he can heal. Please say a prayer for him.
More updates to come later.
~jen

Cody

For those of you finding about this through reading this post, I apologize. Know that we have been on a roller coaster for the past 48 hours and did not call everyone.

Cody has been admitted to the hospital for a small bowel obstruction. He began having some problems late Saturday. I took him to the ER early Sunday morning. After tests and lab work, he was diagnosed with food poisoning and we were sent home. He did well during the day on Sunday. Monday morning he woke up feeling a little sore and worn out. He stayed at home from school. Around 10:30 I received a phone call from him that he was starting to have more abdominal pain. I took him to my clinic and had a doctor there reevaluate him and his labs. She didn't find anything different than the ER doctor, and also thought his symptoms were consistent with food poisoning. Around 2:30 Monday afternoon, Cody came out of my bedroom crying and begging me to call an ambulance, that something was seriously wrong. I made the decision to drive him myself to the ER. After 8 hours, numerous tests, a CT, and a gallbladder ultrasound, it was discovered that Cody has a small bowl obstruction.

The surgeon that was called in to consult explained to us that more than likely this obstruction was caused by scar tissue from the appendectomy. This scar tissue has adhered to part of Cody's small bowel, causing the bowel to twist.

Where we are now...
Cody has a NG tube (a tube that was inserted through his nose and runs down into his stomach), a catheter, and is on a 48 hour bowel rest. The surgeon is hoping that the bowels will rest enough to untwist. This will allow the stool in his bowel to start moving again. He is resting comfortably now. In fact it's been more than 4 hours since he received his last dose of pain medication. The tubes bother him for obvious reasons. Now we just wait and see what happens.

I've gone through a range of emotions today. From worry, anger, fear, to sadness. We had the absolute worst nurse after 7:00 this evening who did all but tell Cody he was faking, that there was nothing wrong with him when he asked for more pain medication. Never mind the fact that he's crying, hyperventilating, begging to be put to sleep, writhing in pain and agony... never mind all those things. No, until we know what's really wrong with you... until I have proof... sorry, I've given you enough medication to take care of your pain. I have never been more angry and have felt more helpless than I did tonight. I was spoken to like I didn't have one iota of nursing judgement. I was pissed off (sorry for the language... I know it will probably be offensive to some of you, but I am still angry over the situation even now, 5 hours later.). He was sent to have a CT done during one of his most painful episodes only to be told by the nurse, "we haven't found anything wrong with you... we've given you all the pain medication that you can have... I can't give you anything else." I basically told her that wasn't acceptable only to hear her respond with "we haven't found anything wrong with him". I replied with there is something obviously wrong with him. He is not faking if that's what you are implying. Off we went to a CT where Cody had remain flat on his back, holding his breath, so the machine could scan his body. I stood outside the CT room and cried. Never in my life have I ever felt so helpless for my child.

Once we returned to the room, pain medication was made available. Once the CT was read by the radiologist and all the doctors on his case determined their plan, Cody's nurse came in to our room and said, "well, I guess there was something wrong with you". Since when did nursing become prove first, treat later. I glared at her and left the room. For all of our sakes, me leaving the room was the best choice because what we needed to be focused on was Cody. I'll have time later to file a complaint against this nurse and if we are ever in need of emergency care in the future and she's working, we will request to be reassigned to a different nurse.

Moving on (I've let this nurse get more than the better of me and it's time to put it behind me and move on). It's 1:29. Cody's fast asleep. One of the doctors that was on Cody's case (but has since been removed now that Cody is a surgical case) just came to check on him. He's the one who actually caught the obstruction and moved us in the right direction. It's reassuring that there are good doctors out there who actually care for the well being of a patient, even if they are no longer assigned to that patient. He's offered to follow-up on Cody and peek in every once in a while to see how he's doing.

I think I am going to try and get a couple hours of sleep now. Mike's gone home to sleep. Thank you to Rebecca for graciously taking care of Caden for us tonight. We appreciate it.

I'll update once we meet with the surgeon in the morning.

Prayers for Cody would be appreciated.
~jen

I will survive (maybe)

Today was day 5 of 12 in a row work-days between my 2 jobs. While today was only half a day, it's still a day that I had to wake up before 6:00, shower, hair, make-up and out the door by 7:45. Hopefully I will survive the next 7 days. The last stretch is the worst as I will make 2 separate trips to Lubbock to watch Cody play his last basketball games of the season. I will survive.

Earlier this week I had some lab work done. On more than 1 occasion, I've had someone tell me how pale I've been looking. I've also been really run down, tired, achy... more than the regular run down, tired, and achy. So, I decided to ask one of our doctors at the clinic to order a full-work up on me. A few days later I started to have some stomach aches and pains, so another doctor added a little more lab work. We discovered that I am anemic, low on B12 and low on iron. The answer to my stomach pain was a bacterial infection in my stomach which can be present due to (and cause) stomach ulcers. I was able to see a GI specialist yesterday and he gave me the same results. He's ordered some additional lab work to determine why I am experiencing these lows. There's a chance they are all related to the infection (and/or an ulcer), but I'm going to have to play the waiting game while we wait on the lab results. He's started me on 3 different antibiotics, Prevacid (which I discovered this evening my insurance refuses to pay for... I won't even get started on that soapbox... I wasn't very nice to the "insurance specialist" on the phone earlier), iron tablets, and B12 injections. I will survive.

I am scheduled to have a EGD test done in April. The doctor will take a biopsy of my stomach and he'll also look to make sure the bacterial infection has cleared. Luckily this is the scope that is from above and not below (if you know what I mean). I will survive.

We received our bill from Cody's appendectomy. $19,000 and some change. Of course that's before any insurance adjustments or discounts... so I am patiently waiting for the final bill to come in. I will survive.

These past few weeks have been crappy (for lack of a better word). I will survive (maybe).
~jen

Cadenisms

Some of my favorite posts are my Cadenisms. Last week Caden came home proclaiming that he and Elizabeth were getting married. Elizabeth is a little girl that sits at Caden's table at school. I was intrigued with Caden's plan so I began asking some questions. After all, I don't know Elizabeth so I was a little curious. When asked what kind of job Caden would have, he replied that he would be the manager at Honda... he would be his daddy's boss. But... there was a perk for Mike; he would only have to work on Saturdays. All the other days of the week Mike could play golf. And on occasion, Caden would take the day off and join him on the golf course. When I asked where they would live, Caden said he didn't know. I could tell that he hadn't thought about this part of his future. Maybe he thought he'd just live here, but then I could see him working this all out in his mind and he didn't know where they would live. Hopefully not too far from home, though.
Mike was listening to our conversation and asked a very important question... does Elizabeth know about this plan? Caden responded (while rolling his eyes)... y-e-s, she's the one who told me that we were getting married! Those forward girls. In kindergarten no less!
~jen