No More Hernia!

Hi Everyone!!  I just realized I have so much to post about!  Much of it will have to wait until another day though.  First I want to give you an update on Jadon.  Jadon had surgery to repair right and left inguinal hernia's yesterday.  Of course as luck would have it the hernia had to cause him problems one more time the night before surgery.  He started acting like he was in pain around 2 in the afternoon.  I checked and his hernia was out.  He was miserable and it stayed out until almost 7 pm.  Here is a picture of him in the middle of his episode.  We were so thankful that this was going to be the last one!  It would all be over in the morning.

The last pain episode!! Amen!!  Poor baby!!

We were told to get there at 8 because surgery was scheduled at 10.  We arrived early just because both Matt and I hate to be late.  We got Jadon signed in and were taken to a pre-op area.  You could definitely tell that this was a children's hospital.  There was a whole shelf unit of toys for Jadon to play with and even some ride on toys.  Jadon LOVED the car.  Once we got him in his little surgery outfit he played and played and played.  He was really in a great mood for not having eaten since 8 pm the night before.  I think it was all the new toys.

 Jadon playing with the car in the pre-op area.

Toot, toot!!  Watch out!!  Here is come!!

When the nurse came in to ask questions and get his history she informed us that the surgery was now on for 10:50.  Ugh!  It was such a long time to wait. 

They came around 10:30 or so to take him back to get him ready for surgery.  That was a very hard thing.  He did not want to be taken from us.  He screamed and cried.  I could hear him all the way to the elevators.  I hated it!  They told us that the surgery would take about an hour or so.  Just a little over an hour later we got the page that he was in recovery.  Only one of us was allowed to come into the recovery area, and we decided that would be me.  When I got back there he was just waking  up.  He was not very happy.  After the recovery nurses decided that he was waking up okay they moved us into a different area which is where we would stay until it was time to come home.  Daddy was able to join us there.  Jadon was very happy to see his Daddy.  No one cuddles him like his Daddy.

The doctor came in to speak with us about the surgery.  He said that the left hernia was a very normal one.  However he did not use the same term for the right one.  The right one is the one that I found.  Matt and I knew it was huge just from the bulge it created whenever it decided to emerge.  The doctor was surprised about how big it was.  I really, really wanted to say "I told you so!!"  but I refrained.  I think that he used about 19 adjectives to describe how ugly the right hernia was.  He said it was red, large, and nasty.  Those were just of few of the words I can remember off the top of my head.  It was so large that he was not able to repair it using the technique they normally use for children.  Normally they just put a few stitches in and they are good.  However, that was not going to be good enough in this situation.  In adults they use a kind of mesh over the area but they can't use the mesh in children because they grow, and would outgrow the mess.  Then the hernia would return.  Not something we want to happen.  So he said that he used an older technique that involved creating a flap with some of the muscle.  He said that he will hopefully never have a problem again!  Woohoo!  That sounds good to us!!

We were able to leave around 2 pm after they checked his vitals a few more times to make sure he was doing good.  We stocked up on Tylenol and Ibuprofen on the way home.  When we got home he was still pretty groggy from the anesthesia.  We were told not to let him sleep alone until he had been up and acting normal for awhile.  Since he had not done anything "normal" Jadon and I slept and cuddled on the couch.  Daddy was busy packing for his trip.

About 6 pm he woke up fussing.  It was time for Tylenol.  Within a half an hour Jadon was up and playing.  He was hungry to he ate.  He then got down and was a maniac!!  He was climbing on furniture and running around like he did not just have surgery earlier in the day.  He finally went to bed around 9 for the night.  Only got up once around 2:30 and I know that was because all his pain meds. had worn off.  I thought maybe he would sleep in since he was up in the night.  NOPE!!  Up bright and early this morning at 6:30!  Ready to rock and roll!!!  We have been keeping Tylenol and Ibuprofen in him and as long as we do that he is acting like nothing happened.

Here is a video of him playing peek-a-boo last night!  Not at all acting like a kid who just had surgery.

His two incision areas were closed up using Dermabond instead of stitches.  He can't swim or get the area wet for the next two weeks.  We have a recheck in two weeks.  Right before we go on vacation!!  Hopefully he will get cleared to play in the water and sand!  Fingers crossed!!

Birthdays, Bacteria, and Boy Scouts

Hello Everyone!  Never a dull moment here!  Last weekend was a whirlwind weekend for us.  We left at 5 am on Saturday morning to drive to Ithaca, Michigan for my Grandma Maxine's 85th Surprise birthday party.  Yes, that right, a surprise.  Don't worry.  We did not give her a heart attack.  She was surprised though and very delighted.  She thought she was just going out to lunch with all her kids.  She was not expecting her grandkids, great-grandchildren, brothers, sisters, one aunt, friends, and the list goes on.  My Aunt Connie, and my cousin Melissa did a great job decorating.  It was very pretty.  It was wonderful to see everyone.  Here are some pics from the party:

Her cake:

Gorgeous yellow tulips were on every table in a vase with lemons.

The table decor:

Ms. Kaitlyn, my cousin's 8 mo. old daughter.  This was our first time meeting her.  Isn't she adorable!

My Grandma Max and I.

Top Row from Left: My Grandma's sister, Bonnie, and her youngest sister, Vicky.

Bottom row from left: My grandma's brother, Marvin (came all the way from Arkansas), My Grandma, and her brother John.

Brother, Sisters, and their spouses.  Two of my grandmother's siblings have passed, but their spouse were there.  Also in this pic is my Grandma's Aunt Mavis (far right).

The kids: From top left: My Dad, Uncle Doug, Aunt Connie, Grandma, and Uncle Tom.

As you can see we all had a great time until......Well, let me back up.

Shelby came home from camp, and about three days later she started saying that her scalp at the base of her neck was bothering her. At first I thought maybe her shampoo was bothering her so I had her switch shampoo's. Then the rash turned into more blister like things. I did some research and thought that maybe it was some sort of folliculitis. I had her start using neosporin on the area. I was not really concerned about it though.  Did not think it was contagious. Then......we are literally an hour away from Ithaca and she say that she has a blister on her face and it just popped. It drained this nasty yellow guke.  I thought great!  Now it is spreading.  I was a little concerned at that point that we were dealing with something else. So I told her to wash her hand ALOT at the party and to not touch any of the little kids. To try no to touch any of the adults either.  By the time we left the party and went back to my Grandma's she had a HUGE blister on the back of her ear.  I showed it to my mom who said, "Oh, that is not normal".  So after some discussion we decided to turn around and head home instead of staying the night.  We did that for two reasons.  One: we did not want to spread whatever this was anymore than we had.  Two: if she needs medical attention I want it to be at home where I am familiar with things.  So my dear husband  got back in the driver's seat of the truck and drove us another six hours home the same day.  Total of 12 hours driving time.  Blah!  We got home about 12:30 am.  

So the next morning we got up, but before we could take Shelby to Prompt Care we had to get Jake to Boy Scout camp. We had to meet up with the rest of his troop at 10:30. We ended up driving the hour and a half to the camp to help with transporation of stuff.  We have a cover on our truck bed that keeps things pretty dry and it was supposed to rain so they put the things that needed to stay dry in our truck. We dropped Jake, and stuff off at camp. Here is a pic of the group before we left:

 

I miss my boy. He is such a joy, and we feel a change in our house when he is gone. 

So...back to my story.  We finally got back from our trip to Boy Scout camp at 3:00. We ran in the house restocked the diaper bag and loaded up again to take Shelby to Prompt Care. Luckily they were not busy at all. We got right in. The doctor said that she was almost positive it was Impetigo, a staph bacteria. Yuck! Thank you 4H camp!!  The doctor said that is most likely where she picked it up. Camps are the perfect place for bacteria like that to spread. Shelby's case was a little to progressed for just the topical cream, so she is on TWO different antibiotics. Can I just say that I go nuts when things like this happen. My husband laughed at me when I came up to the cart in Walmart with an armful of antibacterial body wash, hand soap, lysol, and clorox wipes. I went home, and sprayed, and scrubbed, and sprayed, and scrubbed. I don't want Jadon to get it and his surgery have to be postponed!!  

As if that was not enough running I had enough time to get home with the groceries from Walmart, push them and Matt out of the truck, then I had to get Shelby to a meeting a the park in Tremont about detassling.  She could not work for this farmer if she did not attend this meeting.  I took Jadon with me, and we played at the park while she was listening to safety rules, regulations.  I figured he needed to play time after all that time in the truck.  Finally got home a little after 8! A whole weekend of running that I am still recovering from! Next weekend will be busy, busy with the holiday! That is okay! Bring it on!

Life Is An Adventure!

Well, last week was a seriously crazy week at our house!  Shelby went off to 4H camp on Sunday.  I was very excited for her.  Her BFF Therese went also.  The camp in over by Monticello.  Unfortunately the weather was not the most cooperative but that did not seem to hamper any of the fun.  When we picked them up on Thursday evening they talked non-stop for the next hour and a half about everything they did.  Yes, that is right the whole way to Bloomington,  all through dinner at Arby's, and all the way to home they talked, and they talked, and they talked.  LOL!  They also came home with a whole list of new friends to add on Facebook, and another list of things they needed to remember for next year. 

Here are some pics from camp!

While Shelby was away having fun at camp, Jake was having a not so good week.  Somehow on Saturday while putting away some chicken for me he left the freezer out in the garage open.  I did not find it until Tuesday.  Needless to say, everything was bad.  I had a least 20 lbs. of ground beef, some chicken, the corn and green beans we put up from our garden, and deer summer sausage in there.  Jacob had to clean out the freezer.  Since this is the second time this has happened we decided to move our freezer to the basement over the weekend.  We are currently in the process of reorganizing the basement to find a spot for it. 


Jake continued his bad week with a series of other mishaps including mowing over an extension cord that was still in the yard from our 4H camp out the weekend before.  Poor guy!  On a positive note he is doing excellent in baseball this year.  He plays on 1st and 3rd base frequently.  He is doing a great job fielding the ball.  His hitting is also much improved.  It has been great to watch him this year.

Jadon had an appointment with a urologist last week while Shelby was gone.  The week before he had one of his pain episodes.  During the episode I decided to give him a bath.  He was pretty dirty from playing hard in the yard and I thought it might relax him some.  While I was lotioning him down after his bath I noticed that the right side of his groin looked swollen.  When I touched the area I felt a rather large round mass.  Matt took a look at it and said it looked like a hernia.  Since it was evening the only place we could go was to the ER.  We went over to St. Francis but their ER was so busy we sat for two and half hours and never got seen.  At about ten Jadon started acting like his normal self.  He was flirting with the ladies, and being goofy.  I took him in the bathroom to check his groin and the mass I felt earlier was gone.  This led us to believe that it was most likely a hernia.  We told the ER staff that Jadon was feeling better and we would see his pediatrician about the hernia in the morning and left.  The next morning Matt took him to see the pediatrician and he referred us to this pediatric urologist.  Which brings you up to speed. 

The urologist confirmed that Jadon does have a hernia or should I say "hernias".  Yes that is right.  Jadon has bilateral inguinal hernias.  One on each side of his groin.  He will have surgery at The Children's Hospital Of Illinois's outpatient surgery center on Friday, July 9th to remove them.  The surgery is a very minor one that will take about an hour.  He will be discharged later that day.  Matt leaves for Brazil the following morning! 

Most of the time Jadon is happy, energetic boy who is always into something!  Lately he loves to put other people's shoes one.  He has also figured out how to climb on the couch and recliner by himself.  Nothing on our end tables is safe anymore.  Just today he figured out how to climb up on the dining room chairs.  The only problem there is that he can't get down so he screams for me to come get him down and then he climbs right back up!  Ugh! 

My nephew Owen came for the weekend.  Jadon and Owen get along great!  They had a lot of fun! 

Jadon putting on Caleb's shoes to wear around.

Jadon having fun with his brother in the pool.

Typical goofy Jadon.  Wearing Jacob's Cubs hat.

More water fun.

Jadon thought he would be funny and stick his toes in the camera.  Jadon and Owen were enjoying a bedtime snack. 

Jadon wrestling (or torturing) Daddy.

Jadon got under this chair and got stuck.  He could not figure out how to get back out.  Mommy had to rescue him, but I had to take a picture first!  LOL!

Well, that about sums up what we have been doing here at the Nafziger house lately!  I am sure I am forgetting something! 

Meet Diesel

I would like to introduce everyone to the newest member of our family.  His name is Diesel. He is a Blue Heeler (Austalian Cattle Dog) and his is three years old.  Diesel came to live with us a little over three weeks ago. 

He is such a good boy. He is sweet, loves kids, and as is typical of Cattle Dogs, full of energy.  Diesel seems to be adjusting well to life at our house.  He was an outside dog before he came to us. He still spends most of the day outside but we let him and Dakota in from time to time throughout the day.  He sleeps with Jacob in his room.  It also did not take him long to figure out how comfy a couch can be. I don't think Dakota cares for Diesel taking his place on the cough though. 

Dakota is much more active now that he has a friend around to play with.  We are hoping that helps Dakota with his weight "issue".  Most of the time the dogs get along pretty well. They have gotten jealous of each other a few times and got into a tif but we break it up. Diesel seems to also not like for Dakota to play on his rope. We have no idea why but as soon as Dakota goes for the rope Diesel runs over and starts biting at his legs. Diesel also likes to try to herd Dakota by nipping at his legs. Both behaviors we are trying to teach him are not acceptable.  He is a pretty smart dog so I know he will figure everything out quickly.

He is a very pretty boy and he loves to cuddle! 

 

Both dogs walking over to see what the kids are up to.