Friday, August 31, 2007
Off the vent!
Today was a great day. Even though Charlie was still in the PICU and still on the ventilator, it was good, because he was able to get the amount of pain control that he needed. Yesterday and today the nurses were trying to wean him off the ventilator and were able to around 4pm today. It was so wonderful to hear his cry again.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Aunt Becky's thoughts
When I started this blog I had asked for some stories about Charlie from my sister, Becky. Here's what she's written about the time she's spent with the kids soon after the twins were born.
I was pregnant myself when I heard the news that my sister was having twins. After crossing my fingers that I’d not have the same luck, I checked my schedule. Fortunately, Quesa was due sometime during my second trimester, so I was able to make a trip to Utah in June to help out. I kept praying that she wouldn’t have the twins until I got there. Maybe I shouldn’t have prayed quite so hard; it took a week and a half after my arrival for the little ones to show up. :) I vaguely remember Quesa and Nick heading to the hospital at sometime in the wee hours of the morning on June 16, 2007. My mom told me later that she didn’t sleep a wink for the rest of the night; she was waiting for that phone call. I, however, quickly drifted back into a pregnancy induced slumber. In fact, at around six thirty when the call came and mom told me to get out bed pronto, my first thought was, “Are you kidding me? Get out of here before I chuck a pillow at your head, woman!” That thought was quickly followed by a brief sense of guilt for disrespecting the woman who gave birth to me, and then immediately pushed aside by the most important thought of the morning thus far: “Babies!!”We high tailed it to the hospital, where I got my first glimpse of Hailey Marquesa and Charles Nicholas Campbell. I refuse to admit that I played favorites on the grounds that I might incriminate myself, but there was no doubt that as soon as I saw him, I felt a special connection with Charlie. Maybe it was all the comments about Hailey’s beauty (with which I wholeheartedly concur) that made me think he needed a little extra love. Maybe he took me back to that moment more than three years ago when I held our little Riley boy in my arms for the first time. Or maybe it was as simple as middle child bonding syndrome. Whatever the case, I fell in love. Everyone teased me about playing favorites and I guess they assumed that if I was going to hold, feed, or change one of the twins, I wanted it to be Charlie. So they started leaving Charlie for me. The more time I spent with him, the more I liked him. My heart broke this month when I found out that he’d been hospitalized, but I know that everyone is going to have different challenges in this life. Whatever happens, I hope he knows that he’s got an aunt somewhere in Alaska who’s rooting for him and who thinks he’s one special kid.Disclaimer: I had to steal Hailey a few times to let her know that Aunt Becky was head over heels about her, too. And don’t even get me started on Kayla. I mean, look at the girl! She’s adorable, she giggles all the time, she eats green beans without complaints, for crying out loud - what’s not to love?
And another few thoughts about her son, Riley's, reaction to hearing about Charlie's illness.
From the moment Adam and I heard that Charlie was in the hospital, his name started popping up in almost every prayer we uttered. I didn’t know if our three-year old, Riley, remembered who Charlie was, even though we’d mentioned him before, so I pulled out a few pictures to remind him. I told him that Charlie was sick, and when Riley wanted to know why, I explained that one of Charlie’s body parts wasn’t working like it was supposed to. I think that Riley had hurt his knee earlier that week because he asked, “Are his knees okay?” After talking a little more, I let him know that his Aunt Quesa was going to call us later and tell us how things were going. He looked up at me with those big brown eyes and said, “Then everyone will be happy?” I could only choke out, “I sure hope so, buddy.”
Then a few days later, Riley asked to say the prayer at bedtime. Amidst thanking Heavenly Father for his cars and his bed, he said, “Please bless Charlie that she’ll get better.” I was tearing up and trying not to laugh at the same time; it was touching to know that Riley wanted to pray for Charlie, too, but my nephew had just been called a girl! What to do? I settled for giving Riley a big hug and wished I could do the same for Charlie.
I was pregnant myself when I heard the news that my sister was having twins. After crossing my fingers that I’d not have the same luck, I checked my schedule. Fortunately, Quesa was due sometime during my second trimester, so I was able to make a trip to Utah in June to help out. I kept praying that she wouldn’t have the twins until I got there. Maybe I shouldn’t have prayed quite so hard; it took a week and a half after my arrival for the little ones to show up. :) I vaguely remember Quesa and Nick heading to the hospital at sometime in the wee hours of the morning on June 16, 2007. My mom told me later that she didn’t sleep a wink for the rest of the night; she was waiting for that phone call. I, however, quickly drifted back into a pregnancy induced slumber. In fact, at around six thirty when the call came and mom told me to get out bed pronto, my first thought was, “Are you kidding me? Get out of here before I chuck a pillow at your head, woman!” That thought was quickly followed by a brief sense of guilt for disrespecting the woman who gave birth to me, and then immediately pushed aside by the most important thought of the morning thus far: “Babies!!”We high tailed it to the hospital, where I got my first glimpse of Hailey Marquesa and Charles Nicholas Campbell. I refuse to admit that I played favorites on the grounds that I might incriminate myself, but there was no doubt that as soon as I saw him, I felt a special connection with Charlie. Maybe it was all the comments about Hailey’s beauty (with which I wholeheartedly concur) that made me think he needed a little extra love. Maybe he took me back to that moment more than three years ago when I held our little Riley boy in my arms for the first time. Or maybe it was as simple as middle child bonding syndrome. Whatever the case, I fell in love. Everyone teased me about playing favorites and I guess they assumed that if I was going to hold, feed, or change one of the twins, I wanted it to be Charlie. So they started leaving Charlie for me. The more time I spent with him, the more I liked him. My heart broke this month when I found out that he’d been hospitalized, but I know that everyone is going to have different challenges in this life. Whatever happens, I hope he knows that he’s got an aunt somewhere in Alaska who’s rooting for him and who thinks he’s one special kid.Disclaimer: I had to steal Hailey a few times to let her know that Aunt Becky was head over heels about her, too. And don’t even get me started on Kayla. I mean, look at the girl! She’s adorable, she giggles all the time, she eats green beans without complaints, for crying out loud - what’s not to love?
And another few thoughts about her son, Riley's, reaction to hearing about Charlie's illness.
From the moment Adam and I heard that Charlie was in the hospital, his name started popping up in almost every prayer we uttered. I didn’t know if our three-year old, Riley, remembered who Charlie was, even though we’d mentioned him before, so I pulled out a few pictures to remind him. I told him that Charlie was sick, and when Riley wanted to know why, I explained that one of Charlie’s body parts wasn’t working like it was supposed to. I think that Riley had hurt his knee earlier that week because he asked, “Are his knees okay?” After talking a little more, I let him know that his Aunt Quesa was going to call us later and tell us how things were going. He looked up at me with those big brown eyes and said, “Then everyone will be happy?” I could only choke out, “I sure hope so, buddy.”
Then a few days later, Riley asked to say the prayer at bedtime. Amidst thanking Heavenly Father for his cars and his bed, he said, “Please bless Charlie that she’ll get better.” I was tearing up and trying not to laugh at the same time; it was touching to know that Riley wanted to pray for Charlie, too, but my nephew had just been called a girl! What to do? I settled for giving Riley a big hug and wished I could do the same for Charlie.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The big day
Or as Nick keeps reminding me: step one of 493. We checked into the hopsital at 10:15am. The surgeon, Dr. Scaiffe answered any final questions and told us to expect the surgery to last 4-6 hours. We said bye to Charlie and prepared for the long wait. After a few hours, they called to let us know that he indeed did have biliary atresia and that they would procede with the Kasai. around 5pm Charlie was out of surgery and admitted to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). His nurses were wonderful. Between Nick, myself and grandparents, Charlie was never left alone.
To learn more about the Kasai surgery: http://www.clarian.kramesonline.com/HealthSheets/3,S,88701?PrinterFriendly=true
To learn more about the Kasai surgery: http://www.clarian.kramesonline.com/HealthSheets/3,S,88701?PrinterFriendly=true
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Are you sure about this?
Being home from the hospital, we were almost able to feel like normal again. There were even a few times that I forgot Charlie was actually sick. We have been so grateful for all the prayers from friends and family. Tomorrow is Charlie's big day. Wish us luck!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Going home!
Charlie had another day of relatively few pokes and prods. He was also able to hang out with his grandparents and his twin sis. We learned more about the Kasai procedure and were able to leave the hospital that evening.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Happy again
The last two days were miserable for Charlie.
He had cried so hard that he became hoarse :( Today was much better though. No tests and procedures for a bit. We were even able to get some smiles!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Diagnosis
Today was another day full of tests and questions. He underwent a liver biopsy to narrow down possible diagnoses. Dr. Jackson is pretty sure Charlie has biliary atresia. Here is a good website to learn what biliary atresis is: www.classkids.org/library/biliaryatresia.htm
Monday, August 20, 2007
Something's wrong...
I took Charlie and Hailey to their 2 months check ups thinking everything would go smoothly. But, his family practice doctor, Dr. Eborn felt like we needed to get some lab tests done on Charlie because he was looking so yellow. I took him in for labs, then when I was called with the results, they said to take him in to the ER at Primary Children's Hospital immediately. He was submitted to even more tests and then admitted to the hospital. It was then that we met Dr. Jackson, a pediatric GI doctor. I stayed with Charlie that night.
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