Clinic day today. We had to postpone it last week because somehow, even though I got my flu shot, I still ended up with h1n1. So after two weeks of being sick and missing school, I was finally feeling well enough to get Abby up there. I do have to say that I'm pretty impressed that Abby didn't catch the flu, we are feeling pretty good about that. As soon as I was diagnosed, Abby and I both started on Tamiflu and then I went and stayed at my parents for a week to keep Abby safe, I think it worked....so far, so good. Thank you to everyone that brought my kids dinner while I was staying at my parent's house, they were well taken care of! Even though it's been two weeks, I still don't have a voice, but I'm back to work anyway. Hopefully it will continue to get better.
Now for clinic day. When we first walked in, we were grabbed by a lady that wanted to know if we'd be interested in participating in a study they were doing on finding another genetic link to cardiomyopathy. Of course we said yes, we will always do anything that could potentially help determine the cause of cardiomyopathy. Brock was with us, which they loved because they wanted siblings of the carrier as well. So, all 3 of us had a lab draw today. Brock thought it was sweet because after they took our blood, they gave us each a $25 Visa gift card. Good day for Brock to come to clinic! Abby had her echo and then we talked to the transplant team. The good news is that her heart is as beautiful as ever, no problems whatsoever. The not so good news is that her kidneys are not functioning in the normal range, her creatinine is too high. This is the 3rd time this year that her level has been a too high, and because of that, Abby's going to have to start seeing a pediatric kidney doctor. We knew this eventually could be a problem, her anti-rejection meds are just so toxic and bad for the kidneys, but I didn't think we'd be dealing with it this soon. Hopefully, we can do some things now that will save her kidneys for as long as possible. We'll see what the doc says after our first visit. The other good news is that ever since Abby went off of her med, Amlodopine, about 6 weeks ago, she hasn't had any swelling in her feet and legs, not even once! I think we finally figured that problem out and it is taken care of now! Thank goodness, because that was not good. Abby's next clinic visit will be the end of May when we do her annual biopsy again, until then, she just needs to stay healthy, especially through March and our trip to Hawaii! Also, in May, Abby's going to have some neurological testing done. Ever since Abby's collapse, when she was not breathing or alive for 15 minutes, she's had some memory problems, and we're starting to see it more and more. We're going to try and find some things that we can do to help her, school can be frustrating for her sometimes. Dr. Molina told us today that this is a quite common problem with people that have suffered a cardiac arrest like Abby. Even though we can't "fix" the problem, we can discover what the best ways are for Abby to learn and store new information. It just might not be the same as the rest of us. Abby's excited for this, it should be helpful. Although clinic wasn't perfect, it was okay. We know better than to expect perfection anymore.
As for the other two Doman kids.....Britt has her nursing test next week and she has her nursing school application complete and ready to submit. Then it will be a waiting game. If she gets in her first attempt, it will be awesome. But, if she doesn't, that's alright too, she'll just have to decide what her next move is. She's definitely put the work in! And Brock, after going through the exciting, yet frustrating recruiting process, has signed to play football for Weber State next year. It's a little farther away than I wanted him to go, but he is so excited, and I feel like it's going to be a good thing for him. We spent some time yesterday with the coaches and looking around at the campus. The coaches that we did meet were great, I know they'll be good to Brock. I felt a lot more confident about things after talking to them. It was not an easy decision for Brock, but we both feel like he made the right choice. He's still debating whether or not he'll go on a mission this summer, but I think that right now he's leaning towards going to school for a while first. Hopefully, he won't be criticized for this choice. The decision isn't always as cut and dry and some people think, not every kid is the same. Brock will need support with whatever he chooses to do right now, and I have complete confidence in the choices he makes, he knows what he's doing. Anyone that knows Brock knows that he's got his head on straight and he's mature enough to do what's best at this time in his life.
Lots of fun and exciting things are going to be happening around here in the next few months, I need to get myself ready for some changes to take place. that's not always easy, I kind of like things how they are right now. Going through the past 2 years with Abby has made me appreciate the little, easy things and life as it is, I think it will be hard for me to give some of those things up.
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| Brock visiting the coaches and campus yesterday |
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| Signing his letter of intent to play for Weber State |
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| Best friends forever! It will be sad to see them all go their different ways next year! |
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| The shadows are bad, it looks like Britt has a disease, but the faces are cute!! I love these kids! |
