Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween Headache

Well Anellah doesn't seem to have a headache but it sure looks like she should. On Monday morning she got up and we noticed the side of her forehead was swollen. She and I spent the day in the Emergency Room trying to determine what the problem was while Capper stayed home with Daniel. Eventually, after lots of back and forth, we went home without having any tests done being told she probably just hit her head and we hadn't noticed.

Tuesday the swelling was worse but we sent her to school and called her pediatrician who was able to get her in for a same-day appointment. Daniel and Anellah went from the appointment straight to the hospital for some bloodwork and a CT scan as it appeared Anellah was bleeding under the skin and potentially in her brain. Unfortunately Anellah was too scared of the CT scan machine so they were sent home to wait for a call to schedule the CT scan under anesthesia the next day. Meanwhile I was in touch with her pediatrician who agreed that having the CT scan the next afternoon (when there was an opening available) was too long to wait. That evening she and I went back to the hospital through the ER in order to have the CT scan done with an ER physician administering a sedative. She was able to have the scan and the results were good, meaning there was no bleeding inside the brain. We were able to come home around 1AM.

Wednesday Daniel stayed home with the kids and in the evening Anellah was able to go to our church's event, Pumpkin Patch, because I didn't want her to miss out two years in a row (last year was her surgery). Today she was able to go to school and have a somewhat normal day although her forehead is still super swollen.

The cause of the bleeding is Anellah's liver failure. The liver problems are causing a couple issues, both of which lead to her blood having an inability to clot. The blood clotting issue came up for the first time about a year ago but has been getting worse, which means her liver function is probably getting worse too. At this point she is just being frequently monitored through blood tests. It has been a reminder, though, that she lives with chronic and complicated medical conditions and will never be "cured." It's also hard not knowing what to do, being caught between being cautious but not overprotective.

Trip 3 of 3

BBQ Chips!

Blueberry muffins (you know our lives revolve around food, right?)


I wish I had some festive photos to add, the kids were cute in their costumes last night and I SHOULD have taken Chelsea up on her offer to take our photo but I didn't. :) I also need to take a photo of Anellah with her carved pumpkin, as requested it has both a sad face and a happy face (one on each side).


1 comment:

  1. All I can say is that I am so thankful for all of you, and that Anellah has the best parents on the world.

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