Hanging out with the sickos!!

I thought we were over this ugly flu bug for this year! I had a couple of days a couple of weeks ago where I stayed home from work so as not to infect the whole second floor! Amber was sick a few days, and we thought we were finally over it.

The Shoopman grands were sick off and on all week as well. Poor Kolby missed several days of school. No sooner did they start to feel a little better and Robin got it! Poor kids! They bounced back pretty quickly from the bug and were on the mend in no time!

Then this week, the bug hit the Stucki household and hit it hard! Kallie had a cough off and on since she was here in December but it didn't seem to be too bad so her parents weren't too worried about it until last Friday. Poor Kallie was coughing all day and then came down with a fever in the evening. It spiked up to about 104 before they finally got it to come down. Then she did the same thing the next day and her cough just kept getting worse. So, Sunday mommy and daddy decided she needed to be seen by a doctor. The dr. they saw at the urgent care was not too great! Karlo said he came in for maybe three minutes and checked her, not very thoroughly, and said she had a bad ear infection and needs antibiotic to clear it up. He didn't know any of Kallie's extensive medical history and didn't bother to ask or give her parents the time to express any of their concerns!

This is Kallie on the way to that doctor's appointment. What a miserable little girl!

Tama and Karlo had several nights of staying up all night with a coughing toddler who couldn't catch her breath! Then they decided that Kallie should see her regular pediatrician on Monday. By that time Abbie and Mommy were sick too but not as bad as Kallie. So Abbie and Kallie and Tama all went to see Dr. Lee and we're so grateful for her. She is the most awesome doctor we could ever ask for to care for Kallie! She confirmed that Kallie's ear tubes have fallen out and her ears are both infected. She also checked her oxygen saturation level and listened to her lungs. The verdict is that Kallie has RSV and pneumonia in one lung! She was one sick little princess! There is a vaccine called Synagis that protects against RSV but it is very expensive and only recommended for preemies and baby's with heart and lung conditions and is generally only given for the first year or two. Kallie had these shots every month for the first two winters of her life and then the doctors decided that she was healthy enough and big enough not to need them this year. Apparently they were wrong! Luckily they have a nebulizer machine at home (thanks aunt Weezie! ) and we've been doing the breathing treatments and other medications this week. She has been getting a lot better which is wonderful. We'll just keep treating and praying that she gets past this.

The doctor gave her a cute little dinosaur mask, but she still doesn't necessarily like the treatments. You have to sing to her the whole time so she will be still and let the medicine flow.

Abbie and Tama just kept getting sicker and sicker. Abbie stayed home from school for 3 days and went back yesterday for her valentine's party! We had a lot of fun making valentines for her teachers and classmates. Here she is just resting which is a very rare sight!

Tuesday was the worst day and things were spiraling out of control at the Stucki house. So after worrying all day, and with a semi-gentle push from my boss and friend at work, I hopped on a plane and came to take care of the sickos! They had no idea I was coming until I called Karlo and asked him to unlock the front door! I forget how much time and effort it takes to take care of a house, along with two little sickos and one big sicko! No wonder people have kids when they are young!

I've been able to keep up with work somewhat! Thanks to the Internet! I'm sure they could have survived but I know we all felt a lot better with Grandma here to help out!

Of course there are some funny stories to tell. Kallie spent most of one day telling on me for one thing or another. "Mommy, tell Gwandma to stop it" "Mommy, Gwandma is being naughty" and it goes on and on. Today, I am back to being her favorite.

Then we have miss Abbie!! The other night, we were all eating dinner when out of the blue, Abbie says, "How in the HELL-0 are we going to land this plane" Uhmmm.... her dad looked at her with big eyes and asked her where she heard such a thing... mommy was in a drug induced haze and didn't really catch on to what was going on, and grandma had to turn her head to hide the laughter and to keep milk from shooting out her nose! Turns out she was quoting a line from the new Madagascar II movie they got from Grandma! Oooppsies! After some explanation from Daddy about why we don't say things like that, all is well until the next time!

Finally, today the girls are both feeling pretty well. Kallie still has a cough, but not as bad and she hasn't had a fever for a few days! She's still getting breathing treatments so I'm sure that is helping her as well.

Last night we had the added drama of Abbie losing her first tooth!! It's been quite loose for a couple of weeks, but she was scared to have it fall out. She was certain she wouldn't be able to eat if it fell out! We tried to tell her that Kolby was missing SEVEN teeth all at once and he could still eat, but she didn't seem to take much comfort in that! Last night, she was showing it to her dad and wiggling it and Karlo just got a tissue and pulled it out. There was much crying, disbelief and drama! Once grandma showed her how to put the straw in her new window in her row of teeth and drink her chocolate milk without opening her mouth, she decided having a missing tooth wasn't too bad afterall!

Until next time keep your face to the sunshine and bloom where you are planted!