MIA and OK with it.

I have been a bit out of touch in the blogosphere of late.  I made a deal with myself a while ago that I would spend less time on the computer and more time being present in my own home and with my kids.  A girl at bible study said she asked her kids if they thought mommy was on the computer a lot and their response was, "ALL of the time".  That sort of put me in check and I shudder to think what Jude would say had I asked him the same thing.  Nothing I do online is important, yet it can take up SO much of my time.  I got an android a while ago and though I initially thought it would worsen my media problems, it has actually helped.  I can quickly check my email or facebook from the pickup line in the car at Jude's school or from a chair outside as I watch the boys on the trampoline.  It has maybe worsened my responses to things (because I hate to type on it), but that's okay.  It has helped me have no excuse to turn on my computer during the day, and for that it is worth it!

So, we have had a whole-lotta-lotta going on around here, however I feel like things have definitely slowed down and have worked themselves out.  I feel much more peaceful than I did a month ago, and I certainly know that all things happen for a reason. Here's what been happening in the Martin house...

We sold our house, and then we didn't.

This thing has changed my life.

It is just a Lowes painter's bucket with a canvas bucket boss over it.  We use it to hold all of our art supplies and it has worked so well.  This stuff used to take up 2 shelves in a closet, but now it's all nice and organized and portable.  Jude can just pull it out of the closet anytime he wants to work on a project.

Jude has been tying his shoes lately.  He figured it out a while ago, but got back into it recently and can tie a perfect little bow.

Jude taught himself how to read a bit.  We pulled out some scholastic readers to give it a shot and I started sounding out words and putting them together.  He was like, "I know how to do that, I learned it Word World."  He pretty much whizzed though that sucker.  Shout out to PBS.

We chose a "child" to sponsor from the mission of Hope in Haiti.  It was really sad because all of the cute little kids have been sponsored, but many of the older High School age kids were left behind.  We all sat down at the computer one night and chose our kid.

Meet Kenso

Jude liked him because Kenso likes music, and the drums in particular.  He is in the 12th grade, and we are thrilled to be a part of his life.  My prayer is that his experience at the Mission of Hope will change his life and aid in the transformation of Haiti.  There were lots of big kids left.  If you are interested in partnering with MOH here is a link to check it all out.  It's a very affordable way to make an impact in someone's life.

Jude started baseball.  We decided to skip t-ball and go straight to coach pitch.  This kid can hit, so we didn't want to waste anyone's time.  I don't know if I ever documented my experience watching Jude hit last season. Dallas was pitching to him (4 yr old at the time) and yelled for me to come outside.  He said that Jude hit 9 pitches in a row and wanted me to video him.  Jude started over and hit 16 pitches in a row for the camera.  Then he'd miss one and hit another 9 or 10.  I was amazed!  I just got done watching him field grounders and play catch and he's got the moves.  He can throw the ball 30 feet effortlessly.  Pretty sure I can't even do that ;).  We got on a team with some college friends and found out some friends from church are on our team as well!  We are excited to spend lots of time at the ball
fields with people we know.

Rhett has had a few run-ins with poison.  I know, where are his parents, right?! I was working a wedding a few weeks ago and Dallas had the boys at his parent's house.  I came home and he said, "Oh yea, Rhett licked a cinnamon air freshener plugged into the wall at my parent's, so we called poison control." Then, yesterday (and after I had cast my judgments for the lack of supervision) I was folding clothes and Rhett came running into the front room and said, "I spilled my medicine."  I ran into the kitchen and he had pulled the cooler out of the pantry, got up to the counter and got ahold of his cough medicine.  The bottle was empty and the counter was wet, but there had been half of a bottle before he got ahold of it.  It was Hyland's natural cough, so the p.c. lady said it was diluted enough that there was nothing to worry about.  He didn't likely drink much anyway, but you just never know.  And, this brand doesn't have a child safe lid, which I find strange.

We are new members at Lifetime Fitness!  I cannot wait for this place to open.  It is like the Disney World of gyms.  I had been looking at joining the Y again for a place to swim laps with childcare, but the childcare just seemed so boring and understaffed.  The likelihood of my kids wanting to go to the gym with me was not good to start, but add in a one room play area with 20 kids, outdated toys and an understaffed old lady running to show and I don't think I would want to spend time there either.  Lifetime looks SO SO fun!  The kids area has all sorts of kids activities going on the entire time.  There are dodgeball games, freeze tag, kids zumba and three legged races to name a few.  It's not just a babysitter, it's an activity center.  Don't even get me started on the pools and water slides.  I think it will be an investment well worth the cost. An frankly, I didn't think the cost was crazy expensive or anything.  Really it's not much more than the Y. We are a not a whole lot of frills family, we don't even have cable, but I really think this is worth it and will invest positive activity into our family.  Oh, and I can't wait to get back to swimming!

For the sake of this not being the longest.post.ever, I will update more that's going on later.  I feel like there are some biggies to document, but I'll save some for another post.  Jude's wanting to go to the school and shoot some hoops now:).

*Update:  I thought this story warranted logging back on to include.  I don't know when I'll post again and I don't want to forget this...ever.  Tonight while I was putting Jude to bed he was asking me questions about Jesus.  He asks a lot of questions, and many of them about Jesus and heaven.  He asked about Jesus being in my heart and how he got there.  I told him that I asked him to come into my heart and take the bad away and forgive me of all of my sins.  As quick as could be he said, "I want to ask him to come in to my heart!"  Dallas came in the room a few minutes later and we all prayed together.  He asked a few more questions about heaven, about Cawcaw and our baby that died.  He is excited that because he asked Jesus into his heart and because he will live the way Jesus wants us to live, that he will see Cawcaw and our baby again!  Tears.

Hope you all are well!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Hallelujah

Did you know that some consider 'hallelujah' the highest shout of praise?

Last night while I was up at 1 am I started thinking some horrible things and I went back to my staple scripture that has gotten me through so many minutes and hours of bad dreams, day dreams and scary thoughts these past 6 weeks.

2 Corinthians 10:5 ~ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the       knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

I couldn't fall asleep last night and my mind has been wandering for the last day or so, just wondering what we would encounter this morning, how we would react and how we would move forward.  I was not doubting God's perfect healing for Rhett, just open to the possibility that we might be in for a long haul of faith for healing.  I had considered that we may have to believe and trust in God for some time before the results were evident.  To believe the battle was already won, and to daily trust that despite what the doctors say, Rhett is in God's hands and His protection over him is much more than we could ever offer.

This morning we are shouting hallelujah, no matter what, hallelujah to our healer, redeemer, our restorer, our strength, our help, our provision and our strong tower.  How do people live without Him?!  I would be nothing in His absence.

So, on to Rhett's testimony.  We took Rhett in to his cardiologist appointment this morning.  He needed to have a follow up echocardiogram to see the condition of his mitral valve that was leaking severely 4 weeks ago following his stint with Kawasaki disease.  His doctor was 99% sure that this leaking and heart enlargement was unrelated to Kawasaki's disease, but was just discovered during his echo.  We went today knowing that we may have some choices to make.  They presented us with a few options last time, but followed that up with "none of these are good options based on his age".  These included repairing the valve, replacing the valve and blood pressure meds to control the left side of his heart becoming too large.   Dallas and I added a miraculous healing to the list of options.

I studied the echo machine while the tech was doing her job this morning and tried not to think too much about all of the red and blue that I saw in that 3rd chamber of Rhett's heart.  He was such a good boy and so cooperative during the entire process.  We went into his room and waited for our cardiologist and prayed together, again.

When the Doctor came in she was so much nicer and more personable than last time.  She chatted and greeted Rhett and then looked at us.  She shook her head said, "Well, you guys, Rhett's mitral valve looks SO much better!"  She said that she didn't really know what could have happened, but it went from a severe leak enlarging his heart to a mild case of regurgitation (that is perfectly normal and nothing needs to be done for it).  She said that she would chalk it up to an atypical case of Kawasaki disease (you know, the thing she was 99% sure it was not caused from).  I asked her if she has seen this happen before and she shook her head and said, "never".   I just said, "Praise God" and told her that we have been praying for him.  Though she will rule this as an atypical KD symptom, we know better.  We know that God touched Rhett's little "big" heart and healed his valve.  He provided us with peace from the beginning and was faithful to do a work in our boy.  Hallelujah!

He will go back for another echo in 3 months, 6 months after that and then yearly until they are comfortable releasing him from being monitored.  I just couldn't have asked for a better result.  God answered our prayers completely.  Rhett will grow up to know that God touched his life and we will teach him about what faith means and how faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains!

Click here , here , here and here to read more about Rhett's testimony.

Also, I just want to say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone who has been praying, checking in with us, sending us scriptures, linking bloggers and friends to pray and for encouraging emails and texts.  We are so very blessed to have people in our lives lifting our child and family up to God.  Some of you I don't even know, but I am ever so grateful.  Thank you!

Our healed boy!

a few of my favorite words

Rhett's little chitter chatter is making my day.  It's so cute and funny when little ones pick up on things said and make it their own.

"I ya you moon and back!" {I love you to the moon and back}

"No way hosie hosie" {No way Jose}

"Shoot, shoot, shoot!"

"I hold you momma." {Hold me momma}

"Hi Nags" {Hi Dags (our dog, Dagney)}

Pumpkin Patch Birthday Bash

Well, Rhett is officially two years old!  I really can't believe how fast the last two years have flown by.  My sweet little 6 lb 12 oz baby boy is growing up.  Every minute with him leading up to this day has brought my heart complete joy.  He is so sweet and so amazing.  Secretly I want him to stay my little baby...forever.  Did anybody else pretend like your baby dolls had a weird and mysterious disease that allowed them to stay babies forever and never grow up when you were little?  No, just me?!

We celebrated at what is now my new favorite B'day spot...the pumpkin patch! It was just perfect for a party and I couldn't resist all of the fall goodness going on there.  I'd like to say that I've been planning this for months, but that would be a lie.  The idea hit me last Sunday night, so I quickly had invites printed and got on the horn with the best pumpkin patch in town.  They were gracious enough to give up a table on their porch to celebrate on Saturday morning.

This was all fairly easy to whip together, and inexpensive.  I had the burlap table cloth from a previous party and the napkins were leftovers from Jude's Home Depot party. I strung jute around the top of my appetizer platter and used it as a cupcake stand (cupcakes from Sams club). I used some card stock I had to make place cards and strung them to the munchkin pumpkins (bought at the patch) with jute.  I grabbed a pumpkin off of my front porch and stentiled it...it's now back on the porch:).  Oh, and I used felt and yarn to make the leaf garland that I found on pinterest here.  Each child was given a pony or a camel ride and a bag of feed for the animal petting area.  There was lots to do, and Rhett loved every minute of it!  

 I may need to go back for some mums.  They were gorgeous! 

 Rhett with his Evie girl.

Rhett is in stuffed animal heaven!!!  He loves them, snugs them and carries them around by their necks. 

A HIPPO!!!

 Picking out some munchkins for our friends.

 Jude's first camel ride (with Austin)

 Rhett's first pony ride.  He had mixed feelings, but I love this pic...how he is holding onto Dallas' hand.  

 Petting zoo

 A few of the cousins! 

Jude and Bridget...hunting corn.  

What a fun celebration!  We will likely be back for more pumpkin patch fun in years to come.  Two years ago today I went into labor with my little pumpkin just hours after spending the afternoon at the pumpkin patch.  It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

lately...

~Rhett has been beatboxing and it's possibly the cutest.thing.ever.  He will just be jabbering away and then..."p p ch p p p ch"...I guess he's learned this from Dallas?

~Jude weighs 41 lbs!  It seems like just yesterday he was 7 lbs 15 oz and stealing my heart completely.

~We are super impressed with our pre-k experience!  I expected Jude to basically just pick up some necessary social habits before kinder, but here we are in October and he has far surpassed my expectations!   Some things he has perfected (some he knew going in)...days of the week, months of the year, syllables, songs, rhymes, writing the alphabet in uppercase and lowercase, simple math, counting by 5 oh and,  "scissors aren't for your hair or your clothes" ;).  They have done science experiments and very cool art projects.

Jude's teacher had nothing but wonderful things to say about our boy at conferences.  She said that he is a joy to teach and he is always willing to help and offer answers when she asks questions.

Dallas and I are proponents for public school and feel like we are blessed to be in a very good district and have a very good teacher.

Here is "Jude's" very first school project ...

This yellow house was sent home for us to decorate.  He was the only kid in his class who drew picts of his family.  Everyone else had photos only.

and his very first school picture....

I really debated on whether or not to order school pics...I doubt we will use them for anything and have pics scheduled later this month.  I went ahead and ordered the minimum order amount (package of 6) after consulting with my sister on the matter.

Tonight is the fall festival as school that the PTA puts on.  I can hardly believe all of this is happening already...school, PTA, kids weighing 41 lbs!

~ Rhett seems as happy and healthy as ever!  He appears to be the picture of health and exhibits no signs or symptoms they told us to look for (blue lips, fatigue, shortness of breath, etc).  We continue to believe that Jesus has touched his little "big" heart and that he is healed!

~I had my 2nd bone graft/3rd oral surgery in 6 months a few weeks ago.  Everything is feeling better and seems to be going back to normal.  My mouth only feel a little paralyzed today.  The swelling is better everyday and I look a little less like I got a botched botox procedure with passing time:).  I will go in for my 4th surgery in February, and hopefully wrap it all up with one final procedure in July. Ugh.

~I had my annual visit this week and my doctor shocked me when he told me that every year I put off having another kid I add risks to the pregnancy!  What the WHAT?!  I just turned 30, like 3 weeks ago.  You have got to be kidding me.  They consider high risk age to be 35 now!  That is nuts!  I looked it up when I got home and he was right...cripes.  Happy Birthday, Sarah, your eggs are getting old!

This is what's been happening lately...hope you all are doing well and enjoying fall!

best.recipe.ever.

This girl loves the fall!  Unfortunately it is not cool enough around these parts quite yet.  I need it to be in the 60's throughout the day, cool enough for a sweater and boots, please.  That is not really too much to ask considering how stinking hot summer was for so long.

Anyway, I'm just going to pretend that fall is in full swing and get to all of my fall business around here.  I picked up some pretty pumpkins for $2.50 at Aldi the other day.  They have the best prices on everything. Rhett loves them.  I keep having to take him outside to see the pumpkins, hold them, hug them, laugh at them...he's a boy with an autumn heart...just like his momma.

Rhett and I made pumpkin muffins this morning and they are just as delicious as I remember. This is the easiest, tastiest and best pumpkin recipe ever!  It is from weight watchers and goes something like this...

1 can 100% pumpkin

3/4 cup water

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 box spice cake mix

Mix it all up and bake in muffin cups for 20 min on 350. 

I am confident that Valerie Bertinelli and Jennifer Hudson have been eating some of these guys the past few years, possibly lived off of them (I could)!  They are low fat, full of fiber and vitamin A, and are only 2 points per muffin on weight watchers.  This means nothing to me since I have no idea how the weight watchers system works, but 2 seems like low a lower number,  only 1 or zero would be lower. Or you can throw caution to the wind, slather them in cream cheese frosting or cool whip and down 3 muffins in one sitting.  I mean, they are low fat, right?!  Make them, you will like. 

Rhett likes "Pumpcakes"

Did you know pumpkin is said to be one of the healthiest things you can eat?  Don't ask me who said it, but it's true.  My kids love it, and I fed them pure raw pumpkin straight out of the can when they were babies.  They loved it!  

Encouragement for today

I will remain confident in this, I will see the goodness of the Lord.  

Psalm 27:13

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we ARE healed!   

~Isaiah 53:5~

Distractions...

We have had plenty of wonderful distractions the past week or so.  Good distractions are the ones that keep my mind from wandering to a bad place and allow me to spend a great deal of time with my boys...all three of them!

I've been working on these guys the past few nights....

 Personalized Coasters

I picked up a bundle of these stone tiles for super cheap and have turned them into coasters.  I made sets for Jude and Rhett's Sunday school teachers and for his teacher at school to go along with a gift card for

Christmas.  Ever since I saw some that Aja has, I thought they would make a nice little 'thank you' gift.    

Do you ever just go stand in your garage and swoon over how organized it is? Yea, me neither.  We are staying busy doing things around the house that need to be done, things that don't cost a lot of cheese.  I picked up some great shelving units (2) at a garage sale last week and Dallas got right to work organizing the garage.  It looks amazing, and for two days I would randomly just open the door to the garage and gaze upon the organization in all of it's glory.  Is that weird?

So, we have a guest bedroom that is just, meh.  Really all that it entails is a bed and a matchy match bedspread.  The room has blah all over it, so I just shut the door and have lived with it for a year.  My plan is to turn it into a nursery for #3, but really, that could be years away!  Why should our guests have to sleep where khaki went to die? Because I'm on a major budget, like zero dolla bills is my budget (hospital bills start rollin in any day), I decided to go into the closet.  This is the place everything from our last house that didn't have a place here went to die.   It is still very khaki, but at least there are different variations of khaki, tan and beige:). It is much improved in my book.  I still have an armoire to refinish for this room, but other than that, she's done-ski!  Sorry no before picts.

 So it's not what I would do if I were going out and choosing things new, but for now it works.

k, so I don't have pics for the frames on the walls yet, but I plan to fill them with pictures of relatives.

Also, the Martin house is now a house with two girls!  Dagney moved back in this weekend.  The boys love her.

Our best distraction of all has been our two most beautiful creations.  We have been enjoying the awesome weather, taking lots of walks, running together and of course hitting balls out of the park, aka our back yard.  Rhett appears to be the picture of health.  He runs, jumps laughs, plays and carries on without any hesitation.  We are letting him do it all.

Rhett is catching on to our silly-face pics. 

 Poor baby had an upper respiratory infection and missed school 3 days last week.  

My dimply smoothie kid!

Dallas and I are experiencing extreme peace right now.  I don't know if this is the peace that the bible talks about, "peace that passes all understanding", but it is wonderful.  We are doing devotions together and praying together, and we both just feel extremely calm and peaceful.  I don't really know how to describe it.  Thank you for praying for us as well, many people have let me know they have prayed for peace for us.  Clearly God answers prayer.

Our Little Missionary

Rhett doesn't know it yet, but he is going to become a little missionary to pediatricians, cardiologists, friends and family.  Through his testimony, these people will see a miracle.  I believe it.  

Let me just start by saying that it is taking everything within me to not be angry, emotional and devastated.  Even though I am typing with tears pouring out of my eyes, I know that I know that my child is in the hands of the most amazing creator, healer, author and finisher.  I know that He is hearing our prayers, increasing our faith and touching Rhett's heart.  I know that Rhett will be healed.  I know it.

  I know that God does not waste our pain and He has the amazing ability to turn our pain into purpose.

That being said, our appointment at the Cardiologist was not wonderful this afternoon.  I know that they have to tell you all of the relevant information and some worst case stuff, but sheesh.  

Rhett's cardiologist, Dr. L, reviewed his echo, his chest x-ray and and EKG that they did on him today.  She said that his heart is very large on the left side and that is concerning.  She said that there was a lot of blood leaking.  She also said that looking directly above the mitral valve to see where it is leaking, there are more concerns.  Most of the time they can pinpoint a leak in a certain area of the valve, but his appears to be a broad-band leak across the entire valve.  This could mean that the valve itself is broken or not working properly.  She felt it very unlikely that this stemmed from his Kawasaki Disease, but she didn't rule it out.  

He will have another Echo in four weeks to see if the leak looks the same or worse.  If it is either of these things they will put him on some sort of blood pressure medication to do something or other (I can't remember).  It will not fix the leaking or the valve, but it will do something:).  After that, the size of his heart and leakage will be monitored to see if something more immediate needs to be done.  Mostly repair or replacement of the valve.  

There was mention of some awful things that I refuse to talk about or let get into my head and thought process.  In Jesus' name, I believe that Rhett is healed.  I refuse to believe the lie of fear!  

 during his EKG today

Specific prayer requests:

For his mitral valve to work properly, for it to pump the right amount of blood where it is supposed to go.

That the size of his heart would be normalized and corrected. 

For his overall health and protection through all of this.

The words of this song continue to play in my mind and they have been encouraging to me this past week.  It is based on Mark 4:37-41...

You faught
but you were just too weak
so you lost
all the things you try to keep
now you're on your knees, you're on your knees

But wait,
everything can change,
in a moments time you don't have to be afraid,
cause fear is just a lie
open up your eyes

And he'll break
open the skies to save
those who cry out his name
the One the wind and waves obey
is strong enough to save you

Look
now is not too late
lift up your head
let the rain fall on your face
youre not far from grace, your not too far from grace

And he'll break
open the skies to save
those who cry out his name
the One the wind and waves obey
is strong enough to save you

I know the weight of this world can take you down like gravity and I know the current of yourself can take you out, out to sea but hold on, hold on

And he'll break
open the skies to save
those who cry out his name
the One the wind and waves obey
is strong enough to save you

I just cannot thank you enough for praying!  We have received so many emails, calls and texts letting us know that family, friends and strangers all over the country are praying for our sweet Rhett.  We are so very thankful and blessed to be so covered in prayer.  

Stay tuned for Rhett's miracle!  

Blessings to you all!  

Sarah 

Childlike Faith

We were caught off guard by Rhett's Faith for his healing:)....

Mark 13-16 
People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Echocardiogram Concerns

So I was totally planning to get the a-okay from our pediatrician on Rhett's recovery today...you know, like a big thumbs up stating that this whole thing is behind us.  Well, unfortunately that's not what we got.  Dr. Henley had gotten Rhett's echo results from the cardiologist and there are some concerns.

Rhett's actual diagnosis on his heart is Mitral valve disorder.  Basically his mitral valve is leaking.  This valve is located between the 3rd and 4th chambers of the heart and takes the blood from the third to the fourth chamber (from what I understand).  When it goes from the third to the fourth, his is pumping some of it back into the third chamber instead of relocating it to the fourth.  Dr. H said it is not uncommon for kids to have mitral valve disorders, but 99% of the time they are classified as mild and they outgrow the problem.  Rhett's is classified as severe.

We don't know how much is leaking and how much is making it where it is supposed to go. We don't know what will fix this or what can be done to remedy the problem.  I'm not really wanting to research this right now for fear of what I might find, or what may scare me more than necessary at this point.  We will meet with a pediatric cardiologist next week to find out more about what needs to happen and what all of this means.

At the beginning of our conversation Dr. Henley thought this was unrelated to the Kawasaki disease.  He thought this was possibly a birth defect that wasn't detected until now.  Then, he checked Rhett's heart with the Stethoscope and picked up a murmur, which he never had before.  He checked the hospital records from this weekend to see his vitals and they also showed no murmur.  This led him to believe that this possibly is a result of the Kawasaki illness, but he can't conclude that for sure.  One thing is for sure, our doctor is the most thorough doctor I know, so if there had previously been a murmur, he would have caught it.  I guess when you detect a murmur you go and get and echo done to find out what is causing it.  Since we already had the echo we know the cause of the murmur.

We continue to have faith and believe that Jesus will heal our sweet boy.  Completely heal him.  He doesn't do things halfway, so I believe that Rhett will be healed.  Healing could mean several different things, but I am believing for the picture of health as an end result of whatever is in-between.  We definitely appreciate continued prayer as we walk through this next step on this journey with Rhett.

Thank you for praying!

One of our favorite new things Rhett is saying is "No-fing".  When we were in the hospital we would ask him something like, "Are you feeling okay?" or "do you want to eat?" and he would just say, "no-fing" 'Nothing' totally doesn't make sense, but he knows what he's talking about.  Last week when I would try to get him to take his medicine he would very politely say, "no thank".  It was pretty cute, especially when he would get angry from all of the asking and I would get a very agitated "NO THANK!".

Matthew 11:28-30

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

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Adios Kawasaki!

Isn't this the cutest little patient you've ever seen?!  He is such a trooper and a good little guy.  I didn't know my love for him could grow even bigger, but it has!

So, Friday morning we reported bright and early to the Children's hospital to have blood work done on Rhett to compare it to blood work that was run on Tuesday.  We met our Pediatrician after the blood work to go over the results and I was convinced that it would be totally normal.  I was shocked (mainly because Rhett was acting much better) when our Doc told us that they were much worse, almost 100% worse.  Something that was supposed to be at a level of 5 was at 76.  (Clearly my medical terminology is pretty bleak, but stick with me:).  Dr. Henley spoke with the Infectious Disease Specialist (the only children's IDS in town), and he wanted to spend some time with Rhett one-on-one to see how he felt about a diagnosis of Kawasaki Disease.  We met with Dr. Chang and he felt, at the time, that Rhett was too happy and active to have Kawasaki disease.  They swabbed our boy to test for 14 other viruses, one being Adenovirus (the one he most likely had).  He released us from the hospital with strict orders to report to the emergency room right away if Rhett developed any additional symptoms of Kawasaki.  Namely a rash, strawberry tongue, swollen and feet or peeling skin.  Rhett already exhibited 4 of the symptoms of Kawasaki, including white blood cells in his urine.

We were breathing a sigh of relief when we left the Children's hospital and went to pick up Jude from Dallas' parents house.  I put Rhett down for a nap over there and when he woke up, 2 hours later, his temp was through the roof.  I'm not sure how high it was, but when we got to the emergency room 45 minutes later it was still 103*, after motrin.  We were stuck in the ER FOREVER so they brought us a popsicle for Rhett.  He stuck out his tiny little tongue, and would you believe it looked like a tiny little strawberry?!  It was SO strange.  You could see what looked like strawberry seeds and it was really red as well.  This "strawberry tongue" was symptom number 5 for Kawasaki Disease.

The ER consulted with Dr. Chang and they admitted him to the Children's hospital Friday night around 8:00.  Dr. Chang met us there and basically told us that he had been second guessing his choice all day and decided that he would rather treat for Kawasaki's than risk not treating.  Also, he had just received one of the test results back from that mornings virus swab and it came back negative for Adenovirus, which was really the only other virus with similar symptoms as Kawasaki.  Apparently if not treated by an IVIG, Kawasaki disease will never get better.  The only way to know if a child had Kawasaki disease after the fact is if they end up with cardio arterial disease, heart aneurysms and platelet clotting.  All of which are very dangerous and scary!  We were happy to do the treatment at this point.

To treat Kawasaki disease they use and intravenous immunonglobulin (IVIG).  This was explained to us as an infusion of antibody from thousands of blood donors straight into Rhett's blood stream.  The infusion took just under 12 hours.  Rhett experienced and allergic reaction to the IVIG in the first 15 minutes of treatment.  His temp went from 98.9 to 101.5 in 15 minutes.  There were a few dangerous risks/side effects that were possible from the infusion and the temp was the least dangerous, so we were thankful that is the one we got!

After the infusion was complete (around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday) Rhett's eyes were no longer red, his temp was down and he looked SO much better!  They told us before we started that if it was indeed Kawasaki disease he would quickly improve and most of his symptoms would vanish almost right away after IVIG.  His fever came back around 4:00, but quickly went away after a dose of aspirin to regulate his platelet level that was most likely causing the fever.  It was hard to tell if he was feeling much better because he was so incredibly tired.  A nurse had to check his vitals every 15 minutes for the first 3 hours of the infusion.  He screamed and cried every time he saw them.  After the first three hours they checked him every hour for the remainder of the infusion and then every fours hours for the remainder of our hospital stay.

They initially told us they would have to monitor him for 48 hours after infusion completion,  but Rhett was SO active and happy and healthy Sunday morning and his vitals were great, so they said we could leave after the 24 hour mark from his last fever.  We checked out around 6p.m. on Sunday!  We were so thankful to not have to stay another night in the hospital.  This means we will have to travel back to the hospital Monday and Tuesday for an outpatient echocardiogram and follow up with Dr. Chang, but I'll take it!

For the next week Rhett will be on a high dose of baby aspirin to help out with the blood platelet situation, and then a low dose of aspirin for the next three months.  He will get another echo in three months to confirm his heart was not harmed from the Kawasaki disease.  Also, he is no longer allowed to receive live immunizations.  I'm not sure why, but I will find out more on Tuesday.

Kawasaki disease is sort of a mystery in the medical world.  It's difficult to diagnose but very dangerous if it goes untreated.  They don't know what causes it and how it materializes. IVIG is the only way to treat it and the Doctors don't have any clue how the IVIG fixes the problem, it just does.  They assured us that in 5-7 years they should know more about it.

So much went on over the past three days, but this is what is coming to mind right now.  God answered our prayers and our sweet little Rhett was healed.  I firmly believe that all of the pieces fell into place right when they were supposed to for his diagnosis and treatment.  We are so very thankful for the wisdom and knowledge of our doctors and for that prayer to be answered.  We had possibly one of the BEST experts of Kawasaki disease right here in our town.  He has published papers on this disease and studied it thoroughly.  He also informed us that this disease is often misdiagnosed because of its rarity, and that he was impressed that our pediatrician caught it early.  Thank you so much for praying for us and for all of the emails, texts, phone calls childcare for Jude and meals.  We are so very blessed!

Before IVIG was started.  Poor thing!  

Here are some pictures of our stay at Children's room 213! Most of these were taken a few hours after infusion...

 Trying to escape!  It was so sad.  He would raise his good arm and point to the door and say "meeeeeeez" (please).  

 Walking the halls.  He hadn't walked this much in 6 days!  

 Our lookout point over the city!  

This picture makes me happy:) He thinks he's drinking "fophee" (coffee).

Waiting to be released!  

I am so very blessed that we serve a God who answers prayers and heals our bodies.  He alone is worthy of our praise!