November..Including our 1st Seattle Children's Trip

The school got Kanyon a basketball goal to hang on the wall outside on the playground! YIPPEE! They take very good care of him.  

3rd Grade does a Talking Zoo.  Each student researches an animal and on the day of the Zoo they dress up like that animal and they line the hallways.  They have a sign with their animal name and a button you can "push".  When you push it, they recite information they've learned about their animal. It was SO MUCH FUN!  I got a huge kick out of this and enjoyed seeing the fun home made costumes and listening to the kids talk.  

Kanyon was a raccoon! 

So many of the kids cracked me up, but I particularly liked the coyote.  She had a mouse hanging out of her mouth! They kids were supposed to sit really still until you pressed their button and brought them to life.  The coyote was very still and serious waiting for her button to be pushed.  haha! 

Cousins feeding cows! 

Fall always me nervous because I know winter is coming.  I feel the need to be outside as much time as possible because I know the months are coming when being outside isn't near as comfortable and reqiures a lot more gear and clothes! Me and the kids enjoyed an evening out walking around seeing what we could see.  

When the evening sky looks like this it always reminds me of those sweet tart suckers we used to get at the ballpark for free if we got a foul ball.  Anyone else see the resemblance?? 

We tromped around until the sun dipped so low we started to freeze.  We made it back to the car just as the last bit of light was gone.  

Jaylie found this little deer shed all on her own.  She as SOOOOO excited about that.  Months later and it still holds a prominent place on her shelf in her room.  

Just a couple of days later we found ourselves far from the care free feeling of roaming the woods.  Kanyon had been having headaches off and on for a week or so.  We had been in contact with the Neurosurgeon team as well as our Primary Care Dr.  Any headache worries us as far as his shunt is concerned.  He'd never had a shunt malfunction so we didn't really know what to look for so we stayed in communication with the Doctors in Seattle.  Since the headaches seemed to come and go, we didn't pursue anything until the wee hours of Sunday morning Nov. 20th the headaches were significantly worse.  We were getting dressed to head to the ER and Kanyon threw up.  This was just more proof that we were likely dealing with a shunt related issue.  We got to the ER and they took care of us pretty quickly.  Canyon's pain was not out of control, but he was pretty uncomfortable.  We did CT scans and thankfully were able to find old images from several years ago so the Drs could see Kanyon's ventricles at his baseline.  The radiologist at our hospital was having a hard time seeing those images on his computer at home, so a nurse drove the disc to his house! They were working hard to get things moving as fast as possible and we really appreciated it.  The flight team was called and we started the process of getting to Seattle. I ran home and threw some stuff in a bag, Kory and the kids came up to the hospital to spend some time with us before we left.  We were all nervous, but mostly just glad to be on our way to giving this poor boy some relief.    

The transport team arrived and got Kanyon all ready to go. This, of course, made Quinn and Jalyie pretty nervous and it was an emotional goodbye, but me and Kanyon loaded the ambulance and headed to the aiport.

We flew in a plane that was a little small for my liking and the flight was longer than I'd hoped (almost 4 hours) but the flight nurse had an iPad for me so that helped pass the time.  I was sitting in the co-pilot seat, so it was an interesting perspective.  Lots of buttons and numbers and sticks and stuff.  I fought off the urge to push cool looking buttons and we landed in Seattle safe and sound.  

Meanwhile, Kory took the kids to Tye and Rachael for the evening so he could go home, throw his stuff in a bag and start driving towards Seattle.  Susan was already in Oklahoma for Thanksgiving where we had planned to meet her in a couple of days so that put Wes in charge of the kiddos....with Tye and Rachael's help of course.  This medical junk isn't just a thing for Kanyon. This is hard for everyone.  Its not easy being Kanyon's little brother or sister when he's rushed off like that.  Its hard for them to have Mom and Dad up and leave with no warning leaving them scared and worried. As parents, we are spread pretty thin with the obvious worry of Kanyon and getting him safe, but also the other 2 and how they are feeling.  We were thankful they were in good hands and we didn't have to stress out about where they were going to be or who they were going to be with and how that would all go.  Quinn and Jaylie had a great time and Chief got a giant gold star for his solo babysitting gig.  Plus ranch work.  

Meanwhile in Seattle, they got us to the ER and did some imaging and got us to surgery pretty quickly that night.  I think we went in the OR about midnight and the surgery was a little over an hour.  The recovery was pretty uncomfortable for him.  He was disoriented, upset, and in pain. Its as a hard thing for me to not be able to do anything.  Not to mention that at this point I'd been up for 23 hours straight.  He finally settled in and we got back to our room about 3am.  Everyone got us settled and left us alone about 4:30 am.  Kanyon rested pretty well until all the Doctors started rounding about 6:30! Then nurse shift change, etc.  finally about 8:30 that morning we had some peace and quiet and got a few hours of rest. When he woke up he wanted to watch TV and felt surprisingly good.  He had a sweet new hair-do and a gnarly incision.  The circle stickers on his head that look like cheerios are for imaging markers so they keep everything lined up.  

Kory got to the hospital late that afternoon and we were so happy to see him! Kanyon was feeling pretty good and I know kory was glad to lay his eyes on Kanyon and see him feeling better.  

One of the first signs I knew he was feeling good again was when he asked to play with my hair! yay! 

For a little hospital humor, I took a picture of the elevator that was in our section of the hospital.  All the elevators have different animal names, this one being the Salmon Elevator.  Say that really fast..........Salmonela vator. as in Salmonella.  We joked that we would not touch the buttons on the Salmonella vator.  

The kids went to Tye and Rachaels on Tuesday evening while Chief went to his Bible study.  This assured me that Quinn and Jaylie got a bath and that Jaylie got her hair combed.  Those weren't on Cheif's priority list, so I'm pretty sure Rachael saved Jaylie form having to get her head shaved when I got home.  Haha! 

Technology saves the day at times like this!

Kanyon's recovery went great. I think had we lived closer, they would've discharged us Tuesday, but they kept us an extra night just to make sure everything was perfectly fine.  Tuesday evening we strolled around the hospital enjoying lots of elevator rides and testing out the different views.  This view is by far my favorite.  2 Buddies cheesing' for the camera.    

Wednesday morning we busted out of that place and headed straight for Chick fil A!  Kory and I kept saying we couldn't believe how quickly Kanyon bounced back.  Like he didn't even know he had just had BRAIN SURGERY!!!! We are thankful for a kid who is a total trooper.  Don't get me wrong, he LOOSES HIS MIND when its time for an I.V or a blood draw, but he recovers quickly and goes right back to charming all the nurses around.  

The kid CHOWED DOWN on his CFA!!

This is Kanyon's travel position.  He puts himself under the blanket and zones out. His happy place.  

 Its about 12 hours non stop but we stopped for quite a while at an apple stand in Washington (duh) so we didn't make it the whole way in one day.  We stopped in Missoula for the night, got up Thanksgiving morning and finished out the last 4 1/2 hours.  We got to Kory's grandparents house just in time for Thanksgiving lunch! When I got there the first thing Jaylie did was show me that she could tie her shoes! Apparently in the madd rush of trying to throw kids' stuff together, Kory only packed Jaylie's high top basketball shoes.  So that meant Wes had to put them on and take them off every time they went in and out of the house.  So he decided she could figure out how to tie them herself.  So, thanks to Chief, Jaylie can tie her shoes!!!!!  He didn't even know this, but I don't teach kids to tie shoes.  I don't bathe newborns (they're way too slippery) and I don't teach shoe tying.  I can teach them to use the toilet and read, but not the shoes.  Its just beyond my limits.  Kory 100% taught Quinn and Chief got it taken care of for Jaylie! Yipee! 

It was a unique Thanksgiving and one where we were extra thankful for our family being back together and one where we were blessed by wonderful people taking care of our boy from start to finish.