Weekend getaway!

Although Matt was still working through his cold virus, we were all feeling well enough by the end of the week to do our family winter weekend getaway.  For Christmas this past year, my parents gifted our family with a gift certificate to the Kalahari.  We had hoped to go last Sunday-Monday, but Friday-Saturday worked just as well.  Since we were planning on the girls being out of school on Monday for the trip, having them be out on Friday wasn't too big of a deal.

Everyone slept in a little on Friday morning and then we spent the morning getting ready for the trip (and playing, because that's what our kids do best).  After lunch, we made the short drive, got ourselves checked in, and then played at the waterpark for a few hours.  Since it was just the five of us, we had to take turns with where we were playing and what we were doing.  Amazingly, Matt and I were able to carry Anna up the stairs to the tallest waterslides so she could go down on a raft ... twice!  We also made use of the lazy river, the wave pool, and the smaller waterslides.

The kids all decided they were ready for a break at the same time ... great!  We got ourselves into our room, unpacked, had a makeshift dinner, and then went bowling.  In spite of one child's bathroom accident and another child's g-tube balloon popping (we managed to keep the button in safely until we got home on Saturday!), the bowling was fun.

By that point, we were beat and ready to go to bed.  We're doing slightly better with all sleeping in a hotel room, but it's still not the greatest night sleep for anyone.

Saturday morning the girls started their day by reading in bed while they waited for Ethan to wake up.

Then we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel before going back to the room to pack up.  We spent the morning in the theme park, trying out a few different activities this time around.

Kate and I ventured up the climbing wall and even tackled the high ropes course together.

Ethan enjoyed the bumper boats and the low ropes course.

Anna's favorite was the go-karts.  Poor Ethan has a ways to go until he is big enough for these.

After lunch in the lobby, Kate, Ethan, and I went back to the waterpark for another hour or so while Matt and Anna hung out playing some sudoku on her ipad.

We packed a lot into our 24 hours at the resort, but it was worth it.

We were home early enough on Saturday for Matt and Ethan to enjoy the spring like weather outside.  After church on Sunday, we all managed to get out of doors again.  Unfortunately, we are under a winter weather advisory tonight.  Welcome, March!

Also unfortunately, Kate is working on a fever today.  The girls didn't have school and we had a handful of random, somewhat fun things planned for the day, but of course we have to be flexible.  I'm just hoping that whatever Kate has is fast and easy, but we will deal with it if it is not.

Thanks be to God for the opportunity to make family memories this past weekend!

More flexibility

The crud that started mid-week kept working its way through the family throughout the week.  Although Anna threw up a few times last week (definitely more than she has in awhile), we don't think she ever caught the virus.  Maybe we all finally had what she had several weeks back.

In addition, those who weren't fighting a g.i. bug were/are fighting an upper respiratory virus.  Some of us had the cold first while others of us had the stomach crud first.  Such is life with three young kids who each week attend two schools, participate in preschool activities at an additional school location, attend one after school program, go to therapy at another location, visit church, libraries, and who knows what else.  Too many germs.

Unfortunately, we had to reschedule our weekend family getaway because I was down and out the whole weekend.  Bummer.  Good thing we're all okay with being flexible.

Saturday was a nice enough day that Matt got the kids out in the driveway to ride bikes and play for a bit in the afternoon.  Anna didn't last too long, however, since she tipped her bike over and landed pretty hard.  A split lip and a few bruises for her, so she came in to rest with me.

Please come soon, spring :)

Flexibility

This week did not go as planned.  One of these days I will recognize that every February and March will include many sicknesses and that at least one child will be home from school once a week.  Maybe one of these days everyone will have a full school/work week.  My guess, though, is that it probably won't happen until April, or maybe May.

The start of the week was fine.  However, Tuesday morning Matt woke up with something nasty.  At first he thought he ate something bad the previous night, but now we're not so sure.  He stayed home from work on Tuesday and slept ... a lot.  The kids and I did fine and made it through the evening routine without much problem.  By the end of the day, Matt was feeling a bit better, but still not 100%.

Tuesday night was rough.  First Kate woke up with symptoms that strongly resembled norovirus.  After at least an hour of clean-up (yes, it was that bad), we got her resettled in the basement, where Matt had camped out anyway since he was sick.

Then Ethan woke up about two hours later, again with similar symptoms.  Another round of clean-up.  He was up a couple more times between 2:30 and 5:45.  Ugh.

The night as a whole ranks pretty high on our list of "most disgusting experiences", and that's saying a lot in light of all that happened over the course of Anna's treatments.  But, as Matt reminded me at some point in the middle of the night, you do what you have to do when it's required of you, even if you don't think you can handle it.

Anna went to school on Wednesday, after we informed her aide of the events of the night, so that if Anna started to crash at all (due to her adrenal insufficiency), call us right away.  At least we can sometimes see these illnesses coming on in a different way with Anna.  So far so good, though.

Kate and Ethan woke up on Wednesday feeling much better, but we restricted their food intake for most of the day.  Ethan ended up taking a 2+ hour nap, while I was able to sneak in a nap, too.  That really helped!

Everyone went back to school/work on Thursday, although Ethan fell asleep again mid-day.

But we're always looking for the bright side, so here's what I've been able to come up with.

* All of our bedding was washed on Wednesday so we have very, very clean beds right now.
* Both bathrooms and the beds of certain children were cleaned thoroughly with bleach water on Wednesday so we also have very clean bathrooms and beds for the time being.
* Matt was over the majority of his illness before it hit Kate and Ethan so he was able to help.
* Ethan has had enough exposure to the use of "vomit buckets" so, after his first episode, he knew how to use them (with help, of course).
* For the most part, our kids have resilient immune systems.

This whole experience was on the heals of another round of colds that hit the kids last week.  Sometimes I think the idea of home-schooling our kids would be nice, at least to avoid exposure to so many germs :)  But then I realize what kind of work that would mean and recognize that it's probably not the best idea right now.

Time for Prayers

Thanksgiving
Please thank God that colds and stomach bugs don't seem to phase us as much as they did last year.
Please give thanks that Matt and I were able to survive the trials of Tuesday and Wednesday.
Please thank God that Kate and Ethan are recovering fairly quickly.
Please praise God that Anna and I haven't gotten sick (yet).
Please praise God for washing machines and bleach.

Requests
Please ask God to grant us the strength (physical, emotional, and spiritual) to deal with whatever is still to come this winter.
Please pray that all members of our family return to full health soon.
Please ask God to help all other caregivers as they continue to deal with cold/flu season.

Presentations

This post is going to be mainly about the Mischnick grown-ups and some adult pursuits in our lives.

Wednesday Matt and I both gave presentations about one of our passions.  It's just ones of those random coincidences that they happened on the same day :)

A while back one of Matt's co-workers approached him about helping organize a "Makers' Meeting" of sorts.  Since Matt works with many engineers, several of them have a common hobby ... tinkering.  The idea was to give some of these tinkerers, and would-be tinkerers, the opportunity to share projects in their lives (both successful and unsuccessful) from which others can learn.  They decided on two 15-minute presentations twice a month over the lunch hour, with extra time for questions and comments.

Matt helped drum up some volunteers for presenting, as well as signing up for several lunch presentations.  Thus far he has told the story of building the go-kart (complete with a parking lot demonstration), the play tower, and most recently the (failed) waste oil burner to heat the garage.

In addition, Matt has learned about some fascinating hobbies and projects of his co-workers.  It sounds like the Madison Makers' Meetings are a bright point for several of the employees :)

On to my presentation ...

Wednesday after school I gave a presentation to the K-5 teachers in McFarland titled "Childhood Cancer and the Schools".  This presentation has quite the background to it.

The summer Anna was going through chemo, I had the idea that I should do an independent study course for my teaching recertification.  I wanted to be able to use what we had already learned to increase others' understanding of the disease ... what it is, and what it isn't.  And, more importantly, I needed 3 more graduate credits to meet my requirements.  I figured that I could find someone at some institution who would help me use my idea to earn those credits :)

Originally, I wanted to make a presentation about childhood cancer to share in small communities, to increase the awareness of all aspects of the disease.  I floated this idea to a few people at the hospital and they informed me that no presentations or educational tools really exist from their end of things to share with the general population.

Then, about a year ago, I read a book called Educating the Child with Cancer, which sparked my interest in educating schools about pediatric cancer.  So much of a kid's life revolves around school, and as we have learned, a school can play a hugely positive role in a child's life.  Unfortunately, not all schools and communities are as informed and supportive as ours has been.

Last spring I created the powerpoint presentation and shared it with my sponsoring professor.  Last summer I gave a "practice" presentation to some friends, teachers, and acquaintances who I thought would give me honest and constructive feedback.  Through that practice session, one of the principals from the elementary campus became aware of what I had made.  Last fall after viewing the powerpoint slides, the administrators for the elementary campus invited me to share the presentation with the k-5 staff.  Wednesday afternoon was the presentation.

It all went well.  As I practiced in the evenings, Matt reassured me that it would be fine because, in his words, I really know my stuff.  True.  That's what happens when you live it.

Plus, I already knew many of the faces in the audience.  Although perhaps that made it slightly more challenging than sharing with a group of complete strangers.

I received plenty of positive feedback from teachers I know as well as from some I had never met.  I am simply grateful that I was given the opportunity to explain more of what cancer means for kids.  As one of the administrators told staff at the end of the afternoon, she could think of at least 7 families off the top of her head in which either a child has had cancer or a parent is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.  I never wanted this presentation to be about just Anna so I'm glad that people were able to find other applications for the information.

Sharing the content wasn't actually too difficult for me.  Most of it was general and could be applied to many different situations, even if the pictures were mostly of Anna.  In addition, what I shared then (and often what is shared on this blog) is truly only the tip of the iceberg.

A few things I need to remember for next time, though, assuming there is a next time.  I hope there is, because I would like to continue to use our experiences to help make things easier for someone else.

* Bringing chocolate and fruit was great ... thanks for the idea, Melissa!
* Remember to turn off MY cell phone ... having it ring in the middle of presenting was a little distracting :)
* Be prepared for emotions.  I wasn't expecting as many tears from those in the audience.  Yet another reminder for me that everyone comes into each day with their own personal set of experiences and memories.

Given all that information, if anyone reading this blog knows of a school or community who would benefit from learning more about pediatric cancer and what role a school can play at the time of diagnosis, during treatment, but also after treatment, please let me know.

Thanks!

More and more winter

We are bouncing back and forth between someone feeling ill and thus being cooped up, to feeling healthy again and then feeling cooped up because of the weather.  Such is February in Wisconsin.

We have had a handful of odd viruses pass through our kids recently.  No one else picked up on Anna's stomach virus, but at least once a week someone seems to feel "off", even to the point of missing school (Anna) or falling asleep in the car (Ethan) or complaining of being tired (Kate).  But then the feelings pass and people are bouncing around again soon.  Usually I look back and think "What WAS that?"  Oh, well.  I'll take the quick and easy, if weird, viruses, instead of the long drawn-out illnesses.

Last week the meteorologists were predicting a strong snowstorm for central and southern Wisconsin.  Even though a few area school were closed in anticipation of the weather, we got enough for Ethan and I to make a miniature snowman ... and that's it.

But we had fun outside together that day, and I learned that Ethan likes to shovel snow off of the driveway :)

When the kids are feeling well, it's been hard to keep everyone active enough some days.  Matt and I decided (with input from the kids, of course) to take advantage of the Saturday morning toddler time at the local trampoline park this past weekend.

The good thing about the toddler time is that the kids are all young enough and small enough so that no one gets hurt, but the bad thing is that Saturday morning toddler time is from 8 until 10 a.m.  That's early on a Saturday.  But the kids were really excited about it so we made it work.

Kate and Anna had a great time exploring and trying out different activities and skills, while Ethan enjoyed being able to show Kate around.  We won't do this every weekend, but it was a fun change of pace for us.  (We didn't get any pictures of the actual trampolines, but the kids enjoyed them, too :)

 Saturday evening was our church's annual Chili Cook-off fundraiser.  In years past the money raised was used for an annual mission trip to northern Canada.  This year the money will be used for our youth group's mission trip.

The past two years we weren't able to attend the cook-off, for medical reasons mostly, and this year we all had a good time.  Our kids ran and played with old friends and a few new ones, we all ate plenty of chili and ice cream, and our family won the raffle prize at the end of the evening!  Fun day for us all.

Winter days

The weekend before last we had nothing on the calendar.  By Sunday afternoon, I was wishing that we had at least something going on.  We've been cooped up a little too long lately.

Last Monday, I made plans for the following weekend.  On Friday, the girls and I would go see the Lion King, Jr. performed by middle school students in our district and on Sunday afternoon, we would go see Monster Nationals ("the monster truck show") as a family.

I should know by now that the best way to bring on the unexpected is to make plans.  No sooner had we made these plans than Anna came down with the stomach crud.

Thursday we sent Anna back to school.  That same day Ethan woke up with the beginnings of a gunky cold.  Then Anna woke up with it on Friday.  Kate and I had milder symptoms over the weekend, but we are both feeling better.  Ethan is back to himself, but Anna's stuffiness is lingering.  It's just that time of year.  I wonder what's around the corner?

In spite of not feeling 100%, we followed through with all of our plans.  The girls and I had a nice time at the performance.  The music and costumes were wonderful, considering these kids were ages 11-14.  Another fun memory to stick in the books, although we are learning that handicap seating is not necessarily ideal.  Some venues offer better options than others.

The monster truck show on Sunday was another fun family memory.  Every once in awhile, we have to try out experiences that are more tailored to the boys in the family :)

Ethan didn't take his eyes off of the trucks for a moment, not even for a picture.

Kate gave the experience a thumbs-up.  She likes the trucks that were decorated (Tail Gator and Snake Bite) best.  Of course :)

Anna had a good time, too.  Actually, she had a great day, considering that we already had been to church, Sunday School, and Culver's for lunch before we actually got to the arena.  She's come a long way.

One of the highlights for the kids (and Matt) was "trans-saurus."

All in all, it was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Monday afternoon, the kids had dentist appointments.  This time around I took the idea from a friend and set up the appointments all at the same time, but with different hygienists.  It worked!  In and out in 45 minutes.  We'll take it.  On top of that, no cavities all 'round, successful x-rays for Anna (since her last ones were in 2013!), and successful first inspection and cleaning for Ethan.  Again, we'll take it!

A few bits of disappointing news from the appointment, however.  First, Ethan will most likely need braces one day; he seems to have inherited his cross-bite from me.  Second, Anna will also most likely need braces one day; her thumb sucking days did a number on those front teeth.  And thirdly, Anna's tooth maturity has virtually stopped.  Her six-year molars are only halfway through and two of her front teeth have been out for 18 months with no visible signs of the adult ones emerging yet.  This is yet another indicator that Anna's pituitary gland is shot, just like her thyroid.  (Another key piece of information in this story-line is that Anna has worn the same shoe size for almost 2 1/2 years in addition to very, very limited vertical growth.) Bummer.

As we venture into the month of February, we are also aware of the different "anniversary dates" that are approaching ... diagnosis day, surgery day, etc.  The farther we get from these days, the less powerful they feel.  However, I think some of us will always make note of certain dates on the calendar.

Lastly, we are beginning the process of running out of our preserved food.  We ate the last of the green beans last night and I anticipate the last of the broccoli, peapods, and sweet potatoes being eaten this week.  We still have quite a few beets (surprisingly), freezer pickles, zucchini (of course), and pumpkin in the freezer.  We also have plenty of potatoes, onions, tomato products, jellies and jams, and canned fruit on the shelves.  February is typically the month when we have to transition back to buying vegetables at the grocery store again.  We will all miss the yummy produce from 2015 and are already looking forward to when we will be able to eat our fresh food again.

Time for Prayers

Thanksgiving
Please give thanks for our family's good health, even in the midst of cold and flu season.  We all have white blood cells and our bodies know how to use them!
Please thank God that this February does not currently have any scheduled hospital visits!
Please thank God for Anna's continued motivation to try to eat different foods, even in the midst of her cold.
Please give thanks for the memory making opportunities we have had recently.
Please thank God for the continued support of Anna's teachers and therapists.

Requests
Please continue to pray that God bless Anna with the motivation and grit to do her best in everything that she does.
Please continue to ask God for his blessings of peace, patience, wisdom, joy, and rest for each of our family members.
Please pray that everything continues to fall into place for Anna's summer therapy program.
Please continue to pray for Anna's teachers and therapists, as they work to help her (and the rest of the kids with whom they work) to reach her highest potential.