Home again

We got home late Saturday night. On Sunday we got Ethan back and then on Monday KelseyRae came home from Boise. We are so excited to be back together again. It is as it should be, all my kids back in the same state and under one roof. We already have an appointment set up for Gracie to see an ENT Doctor here in Albuquerque. We go in on March 19Th. We saw an ENT in Denver, and he felt Gracie needs to have her tonsills out as well as her adenoids and soon then later. So hopefully we will be able to have that done in the near future. If the Doctor here in Albuquerque does not agree we will be returning to Denver to have it done there. We will follow up next week.

Diagnoses!!

We are being discharged today!!!! Yea, we got some really great info while we where here and are very happy we came. So on with what we know. They have diagnosed Grace with Asthma which we kind of already knew. In addition to Asthma Gracie was diagnosed with Reflux, Laryngomalacia , and Chronic Sinusitis. So what now? Well the biggest concern that needs treated further is the Laryngomalacia. We are going to see another Doctor at a different hospital while we are still here in Denver. The Laryngomalacia has been causing upper airway difficulties for Gracie. So what is it, and how do we treat it? Laryngomalacia is the underdevelopment of her Larynx. Hers looks like that of an infant instead of that of a 5 year old. Because it is underdeveloped it is floppy and flops over when there is any swelling of inflammation. Thus causing breathing problems. This was hard to diagnose and was found through a very difficult test. So we are going to see a ENT Doctor tomorrow to see if he feels if Gracies adenoids are removed if she would have more room to move air. We are very happy with this diagnoses. The other things are treated with simple meds. We are still learning about Laryngomalacia and will follow up with more info when we know what it is. In the mean time we are going to visit with Alan's family who live close to Denver and then return home on Saturday night. We are grateful for all the prayers and support while we have been here.

Tuesday Test...

Today we are in for another really rough test. Today Gracie is having a Bronchoscopy. This test allows the doctors to look inside the airways in the lungs. This will give the doctors a very clear look as to why she is having the problems she has had. This test will require them to give her an IV. Then they will give her some meds to make her sleepy. Not all the way asleep, just enough so she won't fight the probe. They will also give her some meds so that she will not remember what has happened to her. We are hoping to know if there will be more tests required. So we are keeping our fingers crossed this will be a good test.

Weekend Fun

We where told that over the weekend we should have fun. So we did. We went on Saturday to see our friends Jon & Colleen. We took their daughter Anna with us and went shopping. We had a lot of fun. The girls where very fast friends and loved being together. After that we left thinking we would go back to the Ronald McDonald house to hang out. I decided to be brave and go explore a little. We found this place called Amazing Jakes. This place was crazy hugh. I would not normally take Gracie somewhere like that, but i figure if she gets sick we are in the right place. So we went. We had a blast. She thought it was great to be able to do what ever she wanted. She was really good on the arcade games. She won over 600 tickets. She liked that. Then on Sunday we where lazy in the morning. Got some laundry done and had pancakes for breakfast. Then we got to go and see a friend of mine that I have not seen since I was a teenager. Her little girl was having a princess brithday party. Right up Gracies alley. That was so much fun for her. So all and all we had a fun weekend. Just what the doctor ordered.

First Week

We made it through the first week. On Friday we had the chance to sit down with Gracie's Doctors for a review. What we do know is that Gracie has asthma. The doctors in Albuquerque kept going back and forth if it was asthma or not. Now there is no doubt it is asthma. The only question now is why does she have asthma, when her lungs are 20% smaller then they should be. So we will spend this week trying to figure out that mystrey. The otheer good news is that they do not think that Gracie has an immune disorder. They feel that the reason Gracie is dropping her tetnius tighters is because of the medicine they keep putting her on to keep her breathing. So it is a bit of a catch. So by the end of this week we should know how to care for Gracie's asthma and how sever it is. We really feel that all of this has been worth what we have learned. We should find out today if they want to do a bronchoscopy test. This will not be an easy test. They will have to sedate Grace and then put a tube down her throut. They will put a small amount of fluid in her lungs and collect some cells to better evalute her lungs and how bad they really are. I am really hoping that they do that test on Wednesday, because Alan will be here. Hopefully I will know today .