In just one week

Sometimes seven days can feel like seventy. The past week has been intense, to say the least.

Was it just last Wednesday that we had the tornado warning? The scary clouds overhead? Crazy amount of water?

And last Saturday (or was it Sunday) when we realized that the carpet was wet in the basement living room and a bedroom? Apparently, the water seeped up through a crack in the floor.

Then there was Monday night/Tuesday morning, when we/I kept Lainie up until midnight, then got her up at 4 a.m. Then, drove to Kansas City for her EEG. You can tell I'm getting more used to this, because this time I brought my camera:

At 11:20 p.m. She loved the late night!

Right before the EEG. Sleep deprived but happy to get to borrow sister's hat.

During the EEG. She was amazingly calm and patient.

 The prayer request was that the EEG would show no abnormal activity. Or, if that's not God's will, that we can have God's grace to accept what is the result and that Lainie would not be afraid. Two out of three isn't bad. Lainie wasn't scared at all, and based on what I saw during and immediately after the EEG, I was prepared for the bad news. The EEG shows "significant spikes in the left frontal lobe" so her brain is still a bit too charged; in other words, the risk for seizures is still elevated. The neurologist we saw after the EEG did not elicit confidence or trust, to put it lightly, so we are not following his recommendation to "stop her medication anyway" and are waiting to talk to her neurologist in two weeks.

That day, Jay also took Mags to see her allergy and asthma specialist. Their appointment wasn't as fruitful, but they did say her lung function has improved dramatically, compared to before she started the Advair. They still aren't sure what's going on with the sugar stuff, as he says kids can't have an actual allergy to sugar/sucrose. But, as he said before, if we see a negative response when she eats sugar, then don't give her sugar. We will try to reintroduce milk again this summer, but not right now. We've got enough going right now.

And we thought that'd be the worst of the week. True, we still have one girl at Pioneer Camp for five days, and two girls at VBS for five days, and two nights of softball and two days of Farmers Market. But, Natalie had other plans.

Wednesday night I told her and her sisters to head upstairs to bed while I finished up the last of our supper dishes. I heard her take two steps up, then a crash. That's not anything unusual; our girls are accident prone. But, as I came around the corner, I saw her try to take a step toward me and her legs gave out. Then she started to just whimper and her arms were just limp. I picked her up (probably shouldn't have) and then laid her down on the carpet. She still wasn't moving her arms or one leg, and wasn't crying, so I was worried that she had messed up her spinal cord or neck or something...she just wasn't right. I couldn't think of a way to get her to the hospital while securing her neck, since Jay wasn't home, so I called the ambulance. Yep, Nat gets the distinguished honor of being the first (and hopefully only) family member to ride in the ambulance. Our wonderful! neighbor drove up to stay with Maggie and Lainie, and I went with Natalie to the hospital.

By the time we got there, Jay and Walleta were there (gotta love word of mouth and facebook). Natalie was moving her arms and legs by then, but wasn't crying out, wasn't fighting the neck brace or straps holding her down, so I was still worried. Thankfully, about the time they were taking her down the hall for a CT scan, she got mad and started to cry. The CT Scan was clear, and she was sent home with diagnosis of concussion.

So, every two hours, we (I) got her up overnight and made sure she was still okay. In between wake-ups, she didn't want to sleep much, so it was a very sleepless night. Today, she got more active as the day went on, but she still complained of a headache and she didn't like the loud music at VBS when we picked up sisters. But, all's well that end's well. I just wish I knew how she fell, and how such a small fall could hurt that much.

I'm tired. I'm exhausted. I have the NCLEX in 6 days. I can't study Saturday morning, Sunday morning, or Tuesday morning. But, thanks to friends, I can study tomorrow and Monday, especially. And you can bet your bottom I'll be studying every spare minute I can.


So, self: no more blogging! Get back to the ATI and NCLEX review!