Birthday Happenings!

Sumana had quite a fun weekend. We visited our little friend Crystal on Saturday and then went to Papa and Nana's. Sunday, Miss Jean had cupcakes for Sumana at Sunday School. Our neighbor, Mr. McCann made the trip up from Florida for hunting season, so he was on hand for her birthday dinner. As promised: chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy! And then, of course, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and M&Ms!

Monday, cousins Ruby, Lily and Daisy came over for a doll tea party. This was probably the highlight of her celebration. She absolutely LOVES her cousins! The girly giggles were just tooooo funny! (What a switch from a couple weeks ago when Jeffrey had his GUY friends over for his birthday!)

Check out some of the fun pictures! Look at the humongous cupcake Sumana's PT, Miss Kristen made for her! Yummy!

Two days and counting!

Sumana is sooo excited about turning 11. She is having one of her favorite dinners on Sunday (chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy) and then opening presents. She's having her cousins over Monday afternoon for a doll tea party, then AWANA. It should be fun, but I'm tired already!!! LOL!

We FINALLY heard back about a possible surgery date in February. Unfortunately, I was at work and missed the call. UGH!! However, it looks like Dr. Sander's schedule is pretty wide open in February, so we can basically choose the date we want. This is for Sumana's first VEPTR expansion . . . her first 'cranking up'! I'll try to finalize things with the secretary on Monday. She has all of her annual check ups with her specialists in February, so it'll be helpful to have the surgery date set.

No computer . . . AGAIN!

I've got to say it again . . . 'Computers. You either love 'em or hate 'em.' Right now I 'hate 'em'. We've had more issues. So, that's why you haven't heard from us. However, thankfully, everyone seems to be healthier, so that's good news.

Saturday, Andrew, Sumana and I went to Jeffrey's band concert. His band, 'A Decent Tuesday,' played in Naples. I was so proud! The band writes their own songs and I must say, their music is really developing as time goes by. It was loud, of course, but the band had lots of energy. I was afraid the noise would really bother Sumana, but she really liked it!!

Sunday, Sumana sang in church with her kids choir. They did such a good job! It was a song that had lots of hand motions. Sumana really kept up with the motions AND kept her balance!! (falling over would have been a bummer!!)

This week appears to be quieter. We're busy planning Sumana's 11th birthday party, though. She has tons of ideas, but we're probably scaling WAY down! The easy part is chocolate cake, chocolate frosting and M&Ms! Yum!!! I'm glad she shares my taste for chocolate!!

Oh, well . . .

Andrew DOES (or DID) have H1N1. The rapid culture came back negative on Saturday, but the longer culture came back today POSITIVE! UGH!!! If we had known Saturday, Gretchen and Jeffrey could have gotten Tami-flu, but since they've had symptoms since Friday/Saturday, it's too late to treat. Gretchen is still hanging in there pretty well. Jeffrey is, too, though his mom doesn't like the way his eyes look!

I am sooooo tired of wiping and spraying and cleaning, but I continued again today. Also, I've lost my main dish washer and laundry helper, so I've added those chores to my 'routine'(do you hear the violins????). Woe is me . . . carer of the sickos!

Sorry for the whining! Last night I really did not feel very well and this afternoon I'm still not convinced how I'm doing. I really hope I can ward off the sickness; I have my new work schedule and am supposed to work Thursday and Friday. Wipe and clean and spray some more!!! Drink some water and then drink some more! Hey, a friend recommended elderberry juice to shorten the duration of the flu . . . I may have to give that a try!

In the midst of our drama, Sumana continues to do well. She's once again getting stronger and stronger. Her PT, Miss Kristen, and I could really see HUGE improvement in her strength yesterday. Kristen mentioned that the VEPTR placement allows her to use muscles she never was able to use before. How cool is that??? By straightening her back, she will have increased lung capacity and increased muscle control across her back. I still am amazed to see the benefits of the surgery already and look expectantly to the future. God really is good, isn't He??

Now a 'Beginning of the Week Update'

I'm sooooo thankful for the last two warm days. I opened ALL the windows, sprayed disinfectant ALL over the house and cleaned like crazy, wiping door knobs and handles with Clorox wipes. I think I made a dent in the germs. At least I feel good about what got done. Andrew is slowly recovering; I still don't like the sound of his cough . . . maybe we'll re-visit the doctor tomorrow if he's not MUCH better. Meanwhile, Gretchen came home sick from work on Saturday with a nasty cough. She's muddled through the last couple of days and actually went to college today. She doesn't seem any worse tonight, so maybe she'll 'muddle' her way right through the illness.

Good news. Andrew does NOT have H1N1. So, even though he's been one sick puppy, he isn't spreading H1N1 to the rest of us. There's one less worry, huh?

Oh, yeah. Sumana. This is HER blog . . . She's been doing pretty well throughout this sickness phase of our family. She actually is seeming stronger. I wrote a couple weeks ago about how I was concerned about her tiring easily and seeming weak. Last Thursday she walked longer and faster on the treadmill than she ever has. In addition, it was a better quality walk. Since then, she's continued her exercises and tries walking around the house with NO crutches. It's so cute to see her determination kick in when she tries something like that. I still think that aspect of her personality is going to take her far. We all get to sit back and watch the story unfold! You go, girl!

End of the week update

Well, it has been a busy week! I worked 10 hours at the library already and another four tomorrow! In addition to running around getting Sumana's H1N1 and her usual therapies, ANDREW got sick! And not your average cold. He has been sick IN BED since Tuesday . . . fever and a horrendous cough. I finally took him to the doctor today. Since the doctor said he heard 'crackling' in Andrew's lungs and the fact that Andrew got an antibiotic, I'm assuming he has at least an early form of pneumonia (though the doctor didn't specify). However, the doctor feels the lung issue is secondary to something else . . . so he tested Andrew for strep (negative) and H1N1 (results due later today).

The doctor is well-aware of Sumana's condition, so he also prescribed Tami-flu for her, pending the results of Andrew's H1N1. He also shared the 'good' news that while we've managed to keep the sickness isolated with good handwashing and LOTS of Lysol wipes; the system is bound to break down somewhere. He's concerned for our WHOLE family. UGH!!!! Greig's picking up a homeopathic flu remedy for us and believe me, at the first sign of anything we're taking it!

So, I guess I should have been less specific in my prayer request!!! Pray for health for ALL the Holmans, 'cause Sumana has to live with us!!! (LOL!!)

She got it!!!!

What a relief!! Sumana got her H1N1 vaccine today. I found out today that her pediatrician's office was not making a priority list for the H1N1 and that put me on the rampage. I've been told over and over that Sumana is high risk and needs to be among the first to be vaccinated. Well, she didn't qualify for the county public health program because of her restrictive lung disease (they only offered the mist for her age group) and her pediatrician's office still hadn't received the vaccine.

Thankfully, I called her pulmonary doctor's office (AGAIN!) and spoke to the right person. After being on hold for 10 minutes (??!!) I was asked to bring her in immediately. They had reserved a dose for her because she is in the high risk category. So, we hopped in the big, green van and drove to Rochester. Though I've been basking in the glow of not traveling to Rochester, I was more than happy to make the trip today. We even got child-sized face masks for her to wear to AWANA and church. That seemed to make her happy, so the rest of us are happy, too!! AND . . . Gretchen was able to get her H1N1 at the college today. Yea!! Two Holmans down, four to go!

Please continue to pray for Sumana's health. She still doesn't seem sick, just weak. I think we're going to make her walk more . . . not so much TV and coloring! We'll see what happens!