May Mayhem

So, we've been home from Florida for two weeks now- wow.  That's hard to believe! It took me most of the first week just to figure out what day of the week it was :)  We have been on a roller coaster of activity ever since.  It has been crazy, fun, and full of excitement.  Here's a brief peek...

We've enjoyed picnics with friends...

The start of baseball season!! This is huge in our house.  Carter is in his element.  Can't you just feel the intensity?

 ...which also means nightly training camps in our yard :) Julia is hitting pitched balls really well this year.

And we finally made it to a Grasshoppers game.  This is our latest trip ever, but it was great to be back.  We are all big fans and love our Sunday nights with the Hoppers.

Summer usually appears overnight around here.  The kids go from pants and long sleeves to begging for the pool in a day's time.  This year was no different and they've already broken out the slip 'n slide...

 

It wouldn't be the start of summer without popsicles!

We've also had some wonderful playmates.  Rachel, Leah, and Nathan's mom is hospitalized on bedrest with their baby brother and we're loving having them join us to play.  The more the merrier rings so true with this bunch...

We were all excited to have playgroup at our house.  Our sandbox has really missed all the little bare feet :) 

 
And a brief health update...

First for me, I have finally gotten my thyroid levels in check and I'm excited to report that there have been some positive breakthroughs recently.  It was hypothesized by one of my specialists that my thyroid removal might possibly cure my heart condition, only time would tell.  (I was diagnosed with SVT at the age of 16 and had to be put on daily beta blockers at age 25 because of frequent, uncontrollable bouts of tachycardia.  I have been on that medication for the past 9 years.  I have faithfully taken it because missing even one dose left me feeling horrible.)  In late March I began having weird symptoms- fatigue, low blood pressure, weakness, urinary issues, weight gain, numbness in my limbs, weak heartrate, etc.  It turns out my daily dose was now toxic and I was having overdose symptoms, after 9 years of the same dose! The decision was made to wean off of it.  I was hesitant, but felt so bad it was worth a try.  I am now excited to say I am off of it completely and have not had any major issues! Huge praise!! I have not had my follow up EKG yet.

Also, I went to the eye doctor for a regular exam and found out my vision has actually improved and my prescription was reduced.  He said this is another effect of curing the Graves' disease by removing my thyroid.  Another plus! 

It has been so encouraging to have these positive results.  This journey through Graves disease has been trying to say the least.  The past four years have been a roller coaster of health struggles, diagnosis difficulties, surgeries, medicine adjustments, and lots of patience- on all of our parts.  It is wonderful to reach this place four long years later.  And the bonus prize? I've lost 7 lbs since coming off the Inderal two weeks ago!

And for Julia, she is doing great.  We took her in for a checkup when we returned from Florida.  Her troubles with dehydration left us all wondering if we were missing something.  The docs wanted to get a CBC and check everything out to be sure.

A quick fingerprick and we had some answers.  Everything looked great.  For the first time in a year her white blood count was actually within the normal range.  The catch is, when they did her exam they discovered a raging ear infection in her ear with the remaining tube.  So the question remains, was her WBC back to normal? or is it high (for her) because of the infection? Only time will tell.  Why does it matter? We need to get an accurate baseline so we are able to determine what "a high WBC" is in her case, as an infection indicator.  Some antibiotic drops and stickers and we were on our way.  We'll recheck her labs at her 4 year well-check at the end of May.

We are excited to say she has been feeling great.  Back to her normal self again and full of life and energy.  We have begun the potty-re-training process over the past week.  She has done amazingly well.  The very first day she was peeing consistently, completely independently.  Yay! she remembers! The bowel issues are a little more complicated.  She is still on Miralax and still re-learning to control all those muscles.  She has had some great success, but some struggles too as we find the right timing and amount of her medicine.  It is encouraging to see how excited and proud she is to be so grown up.  We follow up with GI in late July and hope to have great news to report by then.

And that's just the beginning.  More to come soon!