Saturday and Sunday Posts

Today Jim and I worked out at Lifetime. After we did the treadmill, we soaked in the whirlpool and walked around the indoor pool. I also washed all of their bedding, hoping my right shoulder doesn't hurt in the morning. Going to church at one o'clock is hard; between the boys tiring out and my body pain developing, or getting worse, Satan is able to tempt me to stay home.

I can't wait to go out west for vacation! It will be wonderful to take Seth and Noah to Temple Square, BYU-Provo-and-Rexberg, seeing the Dickinsons, and the beautiful state parks and scenery created by the Lord.

Slump

I've been in restless and bored all week because I want to go on vacation already! It seems like it's taking forever, and the boys are also very bored. This heat makes it so you can't do much outside...I'm ready to move to Idaho where Boise is a smaller city and has more land....

Noah's Ear Surgery

Noah's ear has been infected for six weeks. When the infection spread to behind his ear and the skin swelled, we took him to the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Dr. Lin, the new ear specialist, drained the ear and prescribed a strong intravenous antibiotic. Monday morning I noticed his skin behind the ear was swollen. I called Dr. Lin and he told us to come in Tuesday morning so he could perform the surgery and remove the infectious tissue. The surgery took 5 1/2 hours, and the middle bone in the middle ear bone structure had to be replaced due to decay.

The next morning the doctors from the disease control research team asked me a bunch of questions about his long ear infection history. It dawned on me then that Noah could have caught this bacterial infection from someone at school since families move in and out of the country with job changes. They told us there's a new bacterial infection that reeks havoc on middle ears and gave him the new immunization for it in case that's not what he has. They took a TB test, two blood tests, and lots of cultures of puss during the operation. I felt so bad for my Noah, but happy to be rid of it. For now, anyway. They released us Friday evening (the 15th), with a prescription for a 3,400 dollar antibiotic! So far our insurance has covered it; we're hoping they don't refuse the charge and try to charge us for part of it later on.

Noah's Hospital Visit

Noah's ear has been infected for two months. Last week the skin behind his left ear swelled with puss so we took him to the emergency room at Texas Children's Hospital - west campus. After viewing his CAT scan, they transferred him to the main campus at the Medical Center.

Dr. Lin, his new ear doctor, gave him a small incision and cleaned Noah's ear. He had 20cc of puss! He was released yesterday morning and sleeps off and on.

Our ward's been so helpful. My visiting teacher, Alyssa Walker, brought us dinner last night, and the new Elder's Quorum President, Brother Johnson, visited us. He's a pediatrician in the Medical Center.

Throughout this ordeal I've felt the Spirit with us. Jim hurt his back three weeks ago when he moved our old style TV to our bedroom. He had a sedated shot in his upper back that has helped a little. Though life is difficult and often stressful, I'm grateful for the opportunity to draw closer to my Father in Heaven.