Waiting Game

We are now waiting to have a PICC line placed by the radiology team. We should be able to go home tomorrow and continue with the antibiotics there. Arianna is a bit mad because they stopped her feeds so they could do the PICC, she is really grumpy when her tummy is empty, I hope that we don't have to wait too long.

In the Hospital

Well to say that the last 4 days have been crazy would be an understatement. We have been on a roller coaster with Arianna, one day she has a fever the next it's gone, then the next it spikes to 104 and we are in the doctors office. We had chest x-rays, CBC and blood cultures, started antibiotics and the next day she is back to her playful self. Then the bad news comes that she is growing some bacteria in the cultures and we must go to the hospital for IV antibiotics, the injections and oral ones just won't cut it. So here we are, just Arianna and I , I sent Matt and Kenna camping, we were all going to go but when she had to come here I thought it would be unfair to Kenna to not let them have some fun.
We are hoping that this will be a short stay, and that we can finds a root cause to her chronic pneumonia, it would be nice to avoid this in the future. We know that as she gets older that her risk for it will decrease, but each time we have battled it now is wearing down this little fighter.
Today is her 22 month birthday, I know that most people don't celebrate such a milestone but each month, each day is a great blessing and to have had so much time and love with this little girl is worth celebrating, so I will get some cake later to enjoy for her.
Pray for her please, that we might get home soon and get back to life, and that it will be uneventful.
Julianna

Arianna is feeling much better today, I think we are just about over it. It turns out that she had influenza # 3, the one that the flu shot did not cover. I think all of us girls had it and we all got flu shots, Matt however did not get a flu shot this year and has not been sick, nice. Kenna now has a stomach bug, just what we need, I hope it goes away quickly... I will be going in on Thursday for surgery, wish me a quick recovery. I will be taking a little bloggy brake until after surgery, I have a ton to get done around here before then.

So on Tuesday evening cardio called back and wanted us to start Lasix(?) to help her remove the fluid, the only pharmacy that has it in stock for kids is at PCMC, so I made a mad dash to get there before 7:00, I just barely made it. I gave her one dose and it didn't seem to do much, so yesterday we went back to the doc. She checked her over, had a chest x-ray, checked her weight, and then called cardio. They agreed that she should get two doses of Lasix a day and they wanted her blood gases checked. They only had lances for adult pokes and it put a huge hole in her finger, she wouldn't stop bleeding, it took 20 mins to stop. All in all her gases are great and she is now peeing up a storm. Today she seems to be feeling better, she wants to play. Her o2 needs are getting back to normal, she is staying at a 1/2 liter all day and night. I can only hope that this is a turning point and she will be over this soon.
She has reached a new milestone, she is pushing up on her arms while on her tummy, this is huge cause she does not have much upper body strength and this is helping her to build those muscle that will help her to one day sit up on her own!!!!

On a funny note, my neighbor wanted to play a April's Fool joke on me and borrowed a Home For Sale sign from her realtor friend so would think she was moving. Well the joke was really on her, the realtor got 2 calls on her house and the sign was only there a day. Ha Ha.

I absolutely hate the words 'Heart Failure', but that is what I heard today. I took Arianna in for a follow up, her doc is keeping close tabs on her. I was told that the radiologist that looked at her chest x-ray from yesterday noticed that her heart is enlarged vs. the x-ray on Friday. We are waiting to hear back from cardiology to see if we need to do more for her. I am afraid that she will be going back to the hospital. I am trying to stay positive. I can only pray that she will overcome this illness quickly, but I know that the Lord is holding her closely and will protect her. Keep her in your prayers.

Julianna

Well it has been very crazy in our house for the past two weeks and I just haven't found the time or strength to post. Where to begin, Kenna and I had a blast at the Disney Princess show, it was great to see our friends, I also enjoyed the one on one time with her, we needed it. That night Kenna came down with a fever of 104, and complained that it hurt to breath. I got the fever down and she felt a bit better, the cough seemed to linger. The next morning I was the one who was sick, and it took a week to get over it, I still have a bit of a cough but over all I am feeling good, Kenna too. I was most surprised that Arianna did not get sick with us, she waited until last Thursday. She had a fever in her right ear but not her left, I knew that could mean only one thing, ear infection. I took her in to the doc and confirmed what I already knew. She started her on some antibiotics and told me to keep an eye on the fever. Well on Friday she hit 103 and I took her back in, they did a chest x-ray and it looked bad, pneumonia again. We got a Rocefen shot and a dose of Tylenol while there and she just went to sleep, so tuckered out. She did a lot of sleeping on Saturday and seemed more like her self by that evening. We went out for Gavin's blessing on Sunday and she was happy. This morning she had a strange wheeze but her o2 sat levels were good. I still took her in cause we don't take chances with her. Another chest x-ray and it's even worse than Friday, but she still had good air movement in her lungs. We are trying a new breathing treatment and she is getting oral steroids to keep her upper airway open, let's pray it works and she can stay out of the hospital.
I also had a doctors appt today, I found a lump on my ankle and it hurts. The doc says the only treatment is to remove it, so I will be going in for surgery next week(?) it should be a simple out patient, and I will be back and running around the next day. Let's hope.

The Snell's MIA, But Now Were Back

Many of you may have been wondering why there haven't been any new posts lately. Well I just have been to busy to even look at the computer, and then when I do my connection is so slow I get frustrated that I turn off the darn thing. So here comes a huge update on all of us.
This pic shows Arianna trying her best to escape her rocking chair.

Matt celebrated his 32nd birthday on Feb 25, happy b-day! We celebrated our 11th anniversary on Feb 26, we went out to dinner without the kids on March 1st to Log Haven, great food and nice atmosphere, thanks to my mom for watching the girls. We went camping over the weekend of the 9th to Crystal Hot Springs. We had a great time even though the weather was threatening. Kenna had a blast driving her Jeep all over the place. She didn't want to leave the nice hot pool, but we had to because my parents were watching Arianna, she couldn't get in the pool cause of her heart and meds, my parents had to leave to help my sis out. Arianna couldn't get enough of being outside and would get cranky when it was time to go inside cause it was getting cold out. She just loves the sun and the cool breeze.

So far we have all stayed healthy and can't wait for the weather to get even warmer, I love the out doors, and we all love to go camping.

We went to our Cardio appt yesterday. Arianna's heart is doing great, they did an ECHO and were able to see so much detail, even though she was wiggly. Her PH does not seem to be getting worse, her lung blood pressure is at about 50, which is pretty good for her. Her PDA, ASD, and VSD have not changed, but they are not affecting her adversely at this time. She has a great heart squeeze. We have got her back to baseline O2, 1/4 daytime 1/2 night.

She is happier then ever and loves to roll as far as her O2 line will allow. She has succeeded in knocking her chair over while she is still strapped in. I left her alone for just a few mins and the next thing I hear is a crash, I run in to find her and the chair upside down, and she is just smiling. She about gave me a heart attack.

Kenna is doing really well in school, she is her teachers biggest helper. She has learned to read all her letters and is starting on words now. They have begun to learn their songs for the pre-school program in May. She is starting to enjoy ballet more and is learning the dance for the spring recital. She has also been learning to ride her big girl bike, but we need a bigger helmet and so she doesn't want to go to far from home without one. Kenna and I will be going on a date, we have tickets to see Princess's on Ice, thanks IHH and Christina. We really needed to get sometime alone and this is a great way.

I got myself a new haircut thanks to Brynn, I am still figuring out how to style it but I love that it is way easier to manage. I have also lost 10lbs, not by working at it, I think I lost it while Arianna was in the hospital just now noticed that my clothes were not fitting any more, so I stepped on the scale and got a big surprise. I am going to keep up the momentum and work at losing the rest of my baby weight.

So that's what has been going on in our little world. I will try harded to keep up with posting.