reaching out...

For months I have been listening to my mom tell me about a young woman, Emma, (in my church in Ohio) who is getting sick and having all sorts of problems and no doctors can figure out why. It truly breaks my heart as this family has already suffered through so many things a family should never have to deal with. 

There have been many, many prayers offered in behalf of Emma and her family, but as of yet no diagnosis has been found. I reaching out anyway I can to see if anybody can provide any insight to her help her condition. 

The following is an email sent from the grandma of Emma in attempt to get help from anyone...

"The first symptom for Emma was last of March, 1st of April while she was running track. She had a rash develop on one hand then the next day in the exact same place on the opposite hand. It worked up her arm and then her face which took the pigment from her skin. 

Then she started seeing double and had a hard time reading at the end of school which progressed through the summer. Next there were spots all over ( she called them auras). She has a ringing in her ears. She then would be walking along and she would fall down for no apparent reason. 

In June she did a dive into a pool and her feet flipped over her head and as she was swimming to the side of the pool her back was hurting. That seemed to heal and there is not back pain any more. 

She then began to tremble. As you would hold her hand you could feel trembles in her arms and hands. She began have hallucinations, which prompted Christine, (her mother), to take her to emergency at children's hospital in Columbus. They gave her some anti anxiety med which really dopes her up. This trembling has progressed to arms flailing uncontrollably and her can't hold her head up and she can't speak because of the trembling in her neck and voice. She is beginning not to be able to swallow when she sucks on a straw. She was walking with her mothers help and has progress to the point of not walking at all. 

She has head, neck IGI's, Eeg's, blood tests, spinal tap - some tested at Nationwide Children's Hospital and some sent to Mayo Clinic - all come back normal. The last Tuesday was started an IV Ig treatment of 4 hour drip for 4 days, hoping to treat lupus, auto immune problems. Saturday was the last treatment. The tests came back that those were not the problems. She is on the Neurology floor at Children's hospital where she has been all the times she has been in the hospital. Last night they did an longer Eeg and have monitored her all night."

 Please feel free to forward this on if you wish, or email me at mackenzie12@gmail.com if you any information that would be helpful. 

THANKS!!

Awkward & Awesome Thursday

October according to my iPhone. 

Top: Hubster's picture he changed as my background, as I promptly changed back to a pic of my boys; Thriller @ WSU...awesome; Chubbs trying a lime.

Middle: View from the pumpkin patch; the boys enjoying bath time; a wreath a made for halloween.
Bottom: Boys going for a ride at the pumpkin patch; Chubbs getting ready for halloween; Chubbs as a chubby dinosaur.

Awkward

- Let's go with super awkward on this one...had a guy come into my office fresh out of jail. I know him by name and over the years tried to have as few interactions with him as possible.

For over an hour, I heard him tell stories about his stint in jail...wow. Apparently he...

  - shared a cell with the Mitchell guy from the Elizabeth Smart case

  - was in jail at one point with Michael Vick, some Piston basketball players, and some chinese guy from Goonies

Then he told us:

 - how light bulbs can used to cut someone up.

 - way too much information on his experience in prison.

 - how he is stuck in the state for 15 years on parole.

Then (as a married man) gave a lady I work with two kisses on the cheek with very inappropriate hugging.  I knew this guy when I was in school and he was always inappropriately flirting with girls. Gah. Certainly not someone I ever wanted to run into again.

Wow. Wish you could have been there, but at the same really glad nobody else was.

Awesome

 - Fall colors. Granted they aren't nearly as pretty or vibrant as they are back east, but I still enjoy them.

- pumpkin patches. Just fun. 

- Finding an enormous blow up spider in my garage (from years and years ago) and putting it in my front yard (specifically for my neighbor...well, and Munchkin. He thinks it's pretty cool.)

- Seeing Chubbs learn new words 

- short hair. Seriously takes me like two minutes to fix

- My twin brother's getting their mission calls...almost. They are supposedly in the mail.

The Party

I didn't get as great of pictures as I should have, but we sure had a good time.

The Birthday Boy

Some of the treats

Chubbs and one of the cute neighbor girls who just loves him.

Singing Happy Birthday!

 

Loving the cake

His pants got a little dirty after eating his cake. Plus his chubby legs are so cute!

 Pulling the pinata to break it...much safer...and easier. And tricky me, tied up the string that pulled the bottom out in hopes that all the kids would get a turn and pull the long ones first. 

Totally worked! We got down to the very last ribbon.

Hubster's sweet new blanket.

 Clever

THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all those friends and family who came, visited and spoiled my boys. THANK YOU!!

And a very unflattering picture of me...

Shirt: H&M ($5). Pants: Gap. Belt: Downeast ($5). Shoes: Express (free with coupon). Chubbs shirt: H&M ($7ish).