Getting ready for our Denver trip!

Isabella, my mom and I will be heading down to Denver Thursday morning for Isabella's 3 week checkup with her neurosurgeon. As usual I have the knot in my stomach I always do before her checkups. I am always afraid that something will happen.... But this trip is different, Saturday we will be going to the Denver Zoo for the NICU Reunion!! I am so excited for that! It will be so fun to see the kiddos, nurses and doctors from last year. I can't believe it's been 15 months since Isabella was in the NICU. It went by so fast. And it will be Isabella's first trip to the zoo!! Lots of pictures will be taken and posted when I get home.

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On a sad note, Isabella's pediatrician Dr. Wang will be leaving us to go back home to Thailand at the end of the month. She has had him since she came home from Denver. He and I have such a great relationship and we were always on the same page about Isabella's care. I am just praying the new doctor coming in will be like him. I have a meeting with him the 1st day he takes over, to discuss everything and make sure we are all on the same page.
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From your child with special needs: "If I had words I would tell you that every day is Mother's Day for me. That you are the sun in my sky.... That without you, I wouldn't have been able to make the progress I am making. Thank you for being my Mommy. Happy Mother's Day." HOPELights♥

The Dice Family's Eventful Easter Weekend! 3 States in 3 Days, Colorado, Nebraska & Wyoming!

Happy Belated Easter to Everyone!

Our weekend adventures started Thursday when Isabella had a horrible seizure. This was the longest seizure she has had. That evening her shunt incision site and fontanel (soft spot) started to swell. I called her neurosurgeon in Denver and she told us to get down there the next morning. She was pretty sure that her shunt had failed and she would need surgery to have a new one placed. Tyler and I were both up after a restless night at 2:30am, and were on the road before 6am. When we got down there she had a CT scan done and blood work. She was admitted and it was late afternoon before we got a room on the ped’s floor. Her neurosurgeon tapped the shunt to check if it was still functioning and also to draw a sample of the spinal fluid. Thankfully, the shunt was still working; the excess fluid had pushed its way into the soft tissue around the incision site. She adjusted the shunt’s pressure valve, and within half an hour the swelling and bulging soft spot had disappeared. Her doctor wanted her to spend the night for evaluation and also to wait for the culture to come back for the spinal fluid. Our favorite nurse from last year’s hospital stay had her again that night, Elizabeth. That relieved me to know someone who cared about Isabella was going to be with her that night while we rested. The next day her cultures came back negative for any infection and she was released! We have to go back down in 3 weeks for a follow up. After leaving Denver, we headed to Gering, NE to see her great grandparents for Easter, which was the original weekend plan. We had a wonderful visit with them, a perfect end to a stressful weekend.
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I am a parent of a child with special needs. Everyday something seems to happen that reminds me how different we are. Our lives. Our schedule. Our responsibilities. Listening to the stories of other families. But then I stop and think….it’s ok. I am in you and you are in me, together that makes one very happy family. HOPELights♥
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