Ms Witschorke: May 2007

Daddy Night

Joe watches Ella a lot. He likes his time with her, and actually chooses it over going out sometimes (which amazes me). He likes to watch her by himself...just have daddy/daughter time. Tuesday nights I go to a women's bible study and Joe enjoys the time with Ella. Last night he was so excited to show me the pictures he took during their "date night". This is her new face that she makes when she's really happy...it makes us happy when she makes it!

Bath in a Sink

Excuse some of the naked pictures of our daughter...we think the fact that she likes to play with the water from the faucet is amuzing:

Measurements

I completely forgot to post Ella's 1 Year measurements from the doctors office last week...I was a little busy!!

Weight: 21 lbs 11 oz: 55th%
Length: 30 1/2 inches: 90th%
Head: 17 1/2 inches: 25th%

Thought you might like to know how she's growing!

Todays Endoscopy

Ella did wonderful. She laughed and smiled and talked before and after the endoscopy. She charmed all of the nurses...as always. They loved her and thought she was so wonderful and beautiful...what can I say, she's both!!

They saw NO ulcers or problem with the button on the inside. Dr. Brown said everything looked beautiful. That would be great, except that everything looking good means that she just has reflux and it's causing her to choke and possibly aspirate. So, now we are needing to make some decisions. The recommendation is to perform the Nissen Fundo surgery (that I've linked to before...see posts below). It's a big deal and a pretty good size scar...and it's permanent. It's just a lot on our plates and minds right now. If we do the surgery it won't be till after our trip to San Diego for Joe's marathon.

We'll keep you in the loop!

Wanna Help Someone?

I have been reading this amazing blog for a while now: http://andjonbabyluke.blogspot.com/, on their blog there is a link to a video that tells their story...and so much of it sounds like our story: http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=28dcf523ba01be56bfce2c&skin_id=1009&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=image

After reading Andrea's (yeah, same name) latest blog post I realized something. People are always wanting to help us, but right now we really don't need anything (not that we won't, we just don't at the moment). If you would like to help, or know a way to help, the Hughes family as they try to make their trip to the Mayo Clinic then let me know: mitchells1016@sbcglobal.net

GI update

We saw the GI doctor this morning. He is concerned that the feeding button has caused Ella to now have reflux. There is an endoscopy scheduled for Thursday morning at 8:15am...in FAR north Plano. This is set up to check and see if she has any ulcers in her stomach or intestines. They are also going to see if the "button" is functioning correctly on the inside. If there is a problem with the button then they will just replace it with a different type of device. The ulcers can possibly be treated. If it's not either of those, or anything else that they can identify, then we will be scheduled for the dreaded Nissen Fundoplication. The biggest part that concerns us is that this surgery is pretty intense and not reversible. If we are recommended the Nissen then we will have the surgery after we get back from San Diego.

Please pray for the test on Thursday, that it shows the doctor exactly what needs to be done. Pray for the decisions that we have to make. They are not easy, even with doctors telling us what "needs" to be done.

today...

Well, in addition to the schedule I "posted" earlier today...we added in an Upper GI test as well. Of course Ella didn't gag or have a single problem during the entire test...how is it that it happens that way? We followed up with the pediatrician after the GI scan and he found something new. Ella has ulcers on the back of her throat. He's not sure how long she's had them, but says that they could be causing her to choose not to swallow. They are not caused by the spitting up, so it's likely that they aren't helping our current issues. We still aren't real sure what's causing the gagging so we are off to the GI doctor tomorrow. We fed her twice tonight (we are back to PediaSure) and she struggles a little, but not too terribly bad.

Of course we'll update everyone tomorrow.

Oh, she did REALLY good on her hearing test...she can hear really well, which isn't a shock to anyone who is around her...she loves sounds!

Our Week...and then some

I know at least some people like to know what we have on the "books" (also known as the calendar I ALWAYS have on my person!)

Monday, May 21st:
8:30am Cognitive Therapy
11am Occupational Therapy
1pm Hearing Test
3:30pm Pediatrician (to follow up from the weekend)

Tuesday, May 22nd:
9am Physical Therapy
10:45 GI doctor (to follow up from this weekend)
2:45 Vision Therapy

Wednesday, May 23rd (Drew Roughton and Drew Mitchell Birthday!):
10am Dr. Nale (one year checkup)
12:30pm "make up" Occupational Therapy

Thursday, May 24th:
9:30am Occupational Therapy
2:15 (ANDREA) Allergy Doctor

Friday, May 25th:
8:30am Cognative Therapy

Other Dates to Know:
Thursday, May 31 @ 9am Swallow Study for Feeding Therapy
Thursday, May 31 @ 10:30am Follow-Up with different Eye Doctor for lazy eye consult

Verse for Today

"Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3

Joe sent this verse to me this morning and with the rainy weather here in Dallas I thought it applied very much to our lives at the moment.

ER Visit

Sorry it's taken me a while to update. We've been catching up on sleep.

Last night we attended a good dinner with some friends (pictures in another post). When we went to pick up Ella from my mother and sister they told us that she had continued to struggle with gagging over the course of the evening. Back story...since Ella's button surgery she has had problems not gagging and throwing up with feeds. We have tried laying her down, sitting her up, just reclining her, going fast, going slow, going somewhere in between...she isn't consistent with what makes her gag/vomit and what doesn't. We decided to call the after-hours nurse and she said to head to the ER. We thought she said to head to Children's Medical Center (seems she said Medical City Children's Hospital...grrr) so we sat in an ER waiting room from 10:30pm till around 5am to even get into an ER room. Joe and Ella caught some sleep, but I found a book and decided to read the whole evening. It was amazing how many families were in the ER. Some had children with broken something...and some just had kids that didn't feel well. Once they sorted the trauma from the "not going to see a doctor for 12 hours" people it was pretty much wait for a room to open up. So we waited, and waited, and waited. We thought about leaving a few times, but when it started out being a 4 hour wait it didn't make sense...now looking back we should have just headed to Medical City. The biggest concerns were that Ella could have an obstruction or pneumonia...so we weren't exactly critical.

When we finally saw a doctor, about 7:30am, they decided to run some blood work, urine sample, and chest/ab x-ray. Everything having to do with the feeding came back perfectly normal...but she did have a Urinary Tract Infection. So, we are on antibiotics. We decided to discharge after they couldn't do anything to figure out her gagging...we have decided to just do clear liquids till tomorrow and then catch up with her GI doctor for a follow-up and follow-through. I will give you updates as we know them.

Thank you for your prayers and support. The phone calls, blog comments and emails were wonderful to come home to...it's amazing how much of our "support team" read the blog while we were in the hospital! We love you guys and will keep you as informed as we are!

Pictures from ER Visit

Dinner with Friends

We had dinner at the WONDERFUL home of the Low's on Saturday night (Mimi and Sara, and Micah, watched E). I'll post more pictures on www.fellowshipconnection.blogspot.com.

Baby Shower

Here is a picture from Melissa Cobb's baby shower. I will post more pictures on www.fellowshipconnection.blogspot.com.

Good Morning to you all, this is Andrea's sister Sara reporting for the Mitchell's. Please be in prayer for Joe, Andrea and especially Ella today. Ella has been choking and gagging on mucus and saliva for a few days now and has continued to spit up as well as vomit. Last night after Andrea and Joe got her home, Andrea called the doctor and they asked her to go ahead and take Ella to the ER at Children's Hospital Dallas. They were there from 11pm and as of 7:15 (yes over 8 hours) this morning waiting to see a doctor. She called me a few moments ago and informed me they have now seen the doctor and are going in for chest x-rays as well as some blood work. I will continue to update as I get information, in the meantime please pray for the doctors wisdom, Ella's precious and fragile little body, and Joe and Andrea's peace and patience. I think it his hard as a parent to even wrap our little brains around what this family is going through as it is every parent's natural instinct to protect their child. When God takes this out of our hands we then are reminded it is really His hands our children lie in. It takes true faith in our Father to know he is protecting us and will see us through these hard times. The waiting is one of the hardest parts, the not knowing is scary for any parent. I ask that you all please pray that God will wrap this family in His loving arms as he guides them through this exhausting experience. Thank you all and I will post again soon.
In His Grip- Sara