Family

There is nothing more meaningful to Brooke than spending time with her family, so today was a huge dose of happiness for her. Last night, we got to eat supper with Uncle Rick and Aunt Vera. Today, we had lunch with them again, plus Aunt Carol, Ma and Papa. Yay. This afternoon, Briana, Uncle Kirk, Aunt Leslie, Caitlin and Nanny came over. We went out and ate supper and had a belated birthday party for Briana complete with candles and singing. Brooke kept telling everyone it was HER birthday. Silly girl! Once again...no white cake's at Wal-Mart. What's up with that? We had to buy cupcakes instead. It was a fun, family-filled day!

Brooke was more tired today than she has been the past several days and had a restless night. She kicked her legs several times throughout the night which makes me wonder if they hurt some? Aunt Vera said her legs went to sleep a lot after her blood clot hit. I have noticed that with Brooke. Maybe that's it? I researched the Coumadin diet so I will know what Brooke CAN eat. Not much. Everything healthy that she eats is pretty much off limits now. This is going to be challenging. Brooke is already bruised from the shots. I can only imagine how horrific she will look a week from now after 16 sticks. Poor thing!

Thank you for the love and support.

She's Home!!

Brooke got out of the hospital tonight. YAY! Everything seemed to fall into place today. I never doubted that it would...I'm just not as patient as maybe I should be (especially when it comes to my baby). We came home with Lovenox shots and Coumadin pills. Brooke's blood levels are still too high, so we will continue doing both the Lovenox and Coumadin for at least a week. I have orders for tonight through Sunday. She will have lab work done Monday that will determine the next round of treatment, and so on and so forth for labs done again on Wednesday and Friday. Home health is going to come to the house and handle the labs for us. Praise God! The right leg looks amazingly better! The thigh is still 22" but the calf and ankle are much better.

After several discussions tonight...Dr. Luu agreed to continue providing Brooke's care. Thank Goodness! Honestly...I've been very worried about this. He was there the night Brooke came into the world and has been an intrigal part of our lives ever since. He knows Brooke better than anyone. The thought of having to start over with a new doctor made me sick. And who? Where? Brooke isn't the typical 19-year old patient! She's an adult, year-wise, but that's it. I thank God that he agreed to keep her. This was the answer to my prayers. Thanks to all of you who helped me in praying for guidance with this. What an awesome God we serve! Dr. Luu and I actually compromised...we have to take the BIG THINGS to Albuquerque and he will handle the SMALL ONES here. Deal. Brooke is a very challenging patient! Not only does she have several ailments that most doctors never see in their careers, she has 3-4 really big ones happening all at the same time! We can't finish treating one before something new pops up. It can be a bit hard to grasp at times and she can be very intimidating to doctors, whether they admit it or not. And understandably so. I told Dr. Luu that we don't expect him to have all of the answers. This is Brooke! We treat what comes up and pray a lot.

Please continue to pray for Brooke as she fights to rid her body of the blood clot. Pray for her blood levels to go down so the clotting factor is lessened. Pray that the Coumadin levels can be stabilized and easily maintained. Pray that we can get her off the Lovenox as quickly as possible. Let me put this into perspective: Her weekly SUBQ infusions + 7 days of 2 Lovenox shots (per day) equals me having to put 16 needles in my baby's belly in a one-week time frame. I wouldn't want 1 needle put in my belly, much less 16. This child has gone through more than most of us can even imagine. And yet she continues to smile and touch the lives of most people she comes in contact with. Brooke is without doubt the toughest human alive! And never questions why. Doesn't know what pity is. Rarely complains. Is always happy. And is simply the most amazing person I will ever know. She was put on this earth to teach us and what incredible things have we learned from her!

Thank you God for giving me this child! What a gift!!

Brooke Update

Brooke had a good night last night and a good day today. YAY. She has not once complained of any pain; what a blessing that is! She took a Lovenox shot last night. Lovenox is what she was on for the first clot (for 7 months). Talk about an insurance NIGHTMARE!! I've been told it's a lot easier to get it for an adult (hope so!). At 9:00 tonight, she will receive another Lovenox shot plus Coumadin. Dr. Libby (through Dr. Luu) is going to use both drugs for a few days until her blood levels get where they need to be and at that point, only the Coumadin will be used. It's going to take a week or so to figure out the dosage and acceptable blood levels. Our good friend Melba, a.k.a. "nurse crazy" (according to Brooke) was in the room when Dr. Luu came in and she said home healthcare can handle the medicine and blood testing in our home for us. PRAISE GOD! Isn't it funny how you sometimes run into services that will benefit you completely by accident? I would've never thought of them. I hope it works out to where we can use them. The less trips to the hospital/lab...the safer Brooke will be. It looks like we're on the right track now and Dr. Libby is in the driver seat. Maybe we'll be home tomorrow...but it's all dependant on the blood test results tomorrow morning.

Thank you all for the calls, the emails, the texts, the facebook messages, etc. I felt your prayers today and feel like my anxiety level is better. Keep the prayers coming our way! Pray for a peaceful night with Nanny...Brooke was a little panicked when momma left while ago.(THANK GOODNESS FOR NANNY!). Pray for no side effects with the Coumadin and for good test results tomorrow morning. Pray for the simplest course of treatment for Brooke. And especially...just pray for God to continue to watch over her, protect her, and let her know she's always safe in His loving arms.

God Bless you all!

Blood Clot

Prayers needed please!!! This is NOT how I planned on spending my Wednesday evening! Brooke has been admitted to the hospital (in Clovis) with a blood clot in her right thigh. Same spot as the last one and just as big. We noticed extreme swelling in her feet last night which alarmed us. This morning, both were still swollen and the right foot and ankle were a lot worse than the left. I put her stockings on and sent her to school. I went to school and checked on her at 11:00 and the swelling looked the same. There wasn't any tightness of the leg nor was it hot, which are both signs of a blood clot. So I called Dr. Luu's office and got an appointment for 4:00. Fast forward 3 hours...my mother always said not to say something if it wasn't nice, so I'm not going to rehash any of my frustration or anger. Nuff said! There's not enough lines on this blog for that!!! To shorten the story...Dr. Luu is going to give Brooke Lovenox tonight, which is what we took last time she had a clot, and start her on Coumadin tomorrow. He will most likely keep her in the hospital until Monday so her blood levels can be monitored.(This is normal for Coumadin.)

I'm at a loss here. There are no words to describe how Mike and I feel right now. Tears help some, but not enough. Brooke, on the other hand, is as happy as she can be. There is no pain, but also no understanding of why she's back in the hospital. Please pray for healing for Brooke and for comfort. Pray for knowledge for those who treat her (pray really hard on this one). Pray for good communication between our doctor in Albq. and Dr. Luu. Pray for patience for me because I'm fresh out for dealing with people/things outside of my control. Pray for a good nights rest for Brooke and I. And for protection from other "hospital germs" that could harm her. Ask God to wrap his arms around Brooke and protect this sweet, kind, loving, strong, determined, tough little girl.

Thank you my dear friends! Thank you for being there for us.

Laughter

Brooke has a new laugh. Several, to be honest with you. One of her new laughs is a deeper giggle and it makes Mike and I laugh just to hear it. Her other new laugh is a bit of a genetic trait she inherited from me, her Nanny, her Uncle Kirk and Briana. It's where she gets so tickled that she starts crying. Yep, the secret is out. We're a bunch of silly cry-babies. Ha. Laughter is such good therapy and it seems to make even the worst of days - better. I'm so thankful I have a happy child...what a blessing she is!

Birthday Cake

Brooke has been wanting a birthday cake really bad. She loves birthday parties and has been on a birthday cake buying kick lately! It's an expensive habit! So we're at Wal-Mart Thursday night and she insists we buy a cake. We looked and looked and looked for a white cake. (Brooke doesn't like chocolate.) After 15 minutes of standing in front of the bakery section, and a worker's trip to the back to hunt for a white cake, we spot a little white and blue cake that says "white with strawberry filling." That will do! We bought it, brought it home and proceded to have a birthday party with the three of us. I didn't have any candles so I lit the lighter and let Brooke blow it out. It was a real "spur of the minute thing." Ha. Mike cut into the cake and tragedy hit... it was chocolate. What a disappointment for my baby...she was crushed. The cake was mislabeled...darn Wal-Mart! Mike says when he gets finished eating it he might complain. Ha! Maybe our next fake birthday party Brookie will actually get to enjoy her cake. Hope so!!

Life is short...make it fun!

Brookie is so happy!

My baby loves school. She loves being around her friends. Loves riding Bus 81 with Tracy and Diane. Loves working in the office and delivering the newspapers in her purple Wildcat wagon. She is happy to be out of the house. Praise God! While we know this may all be temporary, depending on her health and the upcoming flu season, at least she is there now getting to be her happy, sociable self. "Butterflies aren't meant to be caged." Fly while you can Brooke! And to the people who whine and complain about having to do this and that, remember this: "At least you can." We all need to remember that there is always someone somewhere who would gladly trade shoes with us. Be thankful for what you have, be truthful to the people you love and most importantly - be a diligent servant to the Lord.