Happy Thanksgiving!

I think that you should be thankful every day, but I do love Thanksgiving! I love getting to spend time with family, eat, and just enjoy being together. There are so many things that I am thankful for... this year has been full of ups & downs, but God has been so very present through it all.

First, I am thankful for my salvation; for being loved by a forgiving & merciful God. There were times this year that I questioned why things were happening, but His presence was always near. His love & grace are more than I deserve, but I'm so thankful He loves me unconditionally.

I'm also thankful for my wonderful husband, Jake. He works hard so I can stay home with Madison. I don't have 3 meals cooked a day, and the house isn't always clean, but he never complains. There are times after being home with Madi all day I need some "me" time. Even though he has worked all day & is tired too, I never hear him complain when I take time to go to the gym or get out of the house. He is such an amazing father to Madison, and she loves her "dada" so much!

One of my greatest blessings is Madison... she has brought so much joy to our lives. I love watching her learn & discover new things. Just in a week or two she has learned to climb on furniture (and get down), open doors that we have shut, stand up by herself in the middle of the floor (which it seems like we have been working on forever), and say "Whoa" (which cracks me up, especially when she pulls a toy out or sees something she likes). I love going to get her up in the mornings from her crib. I'll turn the light on & she will usually sit up really quick with the biggest grin on her face. She is definitely a sweet, loving child in the mornings.

I'm also so thankful for the improvements we have seen in her health the past year. We have had some new bumps in the road come up (like her seizures), but overall she is doing so much better! She hasn't had to sleep with her oxygen on in over 2 weeks for the first time since January! She has been on her seizure medicine for 4 weeks now & she hasn't had any seizures yet! She also has been released from wearing her helmet, and is doing so much better with her eating! Prayers have definitely been answered, and we appreciate everyone who has prayed for Madison & for us.

I'm also so very thankful for our families. They have been our rock when times were hard & our biggest cheerleaders during the good times. I'm so glad that Jake & I have good relationships with our parents & siblings. I so look forward to anytime we get to spend with family!

My mom & dad are two of my best friends. I talk to them every single day & they are some of the first people I go to for advice. I'm also thankful that I still have a grandparent alive. I cherish the time I get to spend with my Gigi. She is definitely the rock of our family. She is the most caring & selfless person I have ever met. She loves to cook for our family & there are times she hasn't eaten her food yet before most of us are done because she's so busy making sure everyone else has what they need.

There are so many other things that I'm thankful for... friends, old & new church families, Madison's doctors & therapists, a warm roof over my head, plenty of food to eat, etc. All I can say is even when times are rough, you always have things to be thankful for. We have all been blessed far more than we deserve.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Great News!

Madison had her 2nd sleep study Sunday night. I thought that her apnea had gotten some better since she had her tonsils & adenoids out, but I wasn't sure how much. I was nervous how the results would turn out, especially since she had a pretty high fever when we did the study.

We are meeting with her ENT & pulmonologist December 11th to go over the results of the study & next steps... but I heard from her pulmonologist today with some preliminary results.

He was really pleased with how much better things looked! Last time, her apnea index (obstructive and central apnea combined) was 63%. On the recent study this number dropped to 1.9%. That is a HUGE improvement!!! She still had some episodes (we didn't get into the number today), but it is so much improved that she doesn't have to be on her oxygen at night unless she needs it!

This doesn't mean that she won't have some type of surgery to improve this number even more, but it should be minor. I was very worried that if the apnea had not improved, she could possibly be getting a trach put in. Thankfully this doesn't seem to even be on the drawing board anymore!!

I am so thankful for all the many prayers for Madison. We were expecting improvement but not to this degree. God continues to have His hand on Madison & we are so grateful!

Spooky Start to Halloween... Part 2

After my blog post yesterday, maybe 15 minutes passed by before Madison had another seizure (around 1:15pm). It lasted about a minute with her oxygen dropping & her right hand twitching this time. I called her pediatrician & made an appointment to take her to get checked out.

Jake came home & met me because I was terrified to drive by myself down to Goodlettsville in case she had another seizure in the car. I grabbed her Halloween costume (she was going to be Minnie Mouse) since we were supposed to go eat at my Gigi's that night for mine & Jake's birthdays. I wasn't sure if we'd get to go or not, but wanted to take everything just in case so we didn't have to drive all the way back home.

All her vitals were good at the pediatrician, and she was fine when Dr. White examined her. They called in a prescription for her everyday seizure medicine so we could pick it up. We decided to get it at the Walgreens in Springfield instead of the one in Goodlettsville (since we figured it would give the pharmacy time to get the medicine ready).

Madison fell asleep in the car right before we got into Springfield. We got to the first main light in Springfield, and she opened her eyes and looked at me. She had a weird look about her, so I grabbed her oxygen tank. All the sudden her eyes rolled back in her head & she started turning blue. It seemed like it took forever to get the tank to work & the oxygen put in her nose. I told Jake to turn left & go to Northcrest. Madison wasn't breathing & her whole face was turning purple. The oxygen was cranked up all the way, but since she wasn't breathing it wasn't doing any good.

Jake was having to drive almost the whole way to Northcrest in the turning lane, and I got Madison out of her car seat to try to turn her on her side. I could see her tongue was blocking her mouth / airway. I tried to pull down on her mouth to open the airway & she was so rigid I couldn't even budge her chin down. It probably took 2 minutes to get to the hospital. I seriously thought she wasn't going to make it because I couldn't get her to breathe. I jumped out of the truck & ran in the ER. As I was yelling that she wasn't breathing & we needed someone NOW - Madison started breathing some & her color was improving. Out of all the things that have happened so far, I think that was the scariest. I just felt helpless & had no idea what I could do. If this happens again I will try to do CPR, but I couldn't do it in the truck.

They made sure she was stable at Northcrest & started her seizure medicine, then she was transported to Vanderbilt. They did a chest x-ray & CT scan (which were normal). We got up to a room late last night & they finished hooking up the EEG about 1:30am. It ran until lunchtime today, and it also came back normal. She is now on seizure medicine twice a day. We are just praying that this is the right medicine for her & the right dosage. I don't know if I can take another day like yesterday. But if it happens, we will just trust in God & do all we can to help her.

I'm so thankful we happened to choose to go to Springfield instead of home. I know God had His hand over Madison & I'm so thankful that she is ok. We love this sweet little angel so much (even though she's going to give me a heart attack before I'm 30).