So Happy Together

Tuesday morning the doctors came in and told me that the results had come back positive for the varicella virus. They didn't have a definitive answer yesterday or today as to whether it is chicken pox or shingles, however since they are both a strand of the varicella virus, the treatment is the same. Brooklyn has been taking an anti-viral medication since Monday which helps the virus from getting too bad or spreading too rapidly and also helps her recover faster. She has consistently had a fever of over 100 until today so she has been pretty wiped out. She hasn't been itching her leg too much, but will start to scratch after her benadryl wears off. She has also complained that the bumps hurt, so the tylenol has helped her with that too. Tuesday was a long day after a restless night of sleep Monday night. She handled everything really well though. We painted again and we covered almost every inch of wall space in our room with the pictures she painted. It was a fun way to decorate the room and bring some joy into our day. Mike had to work all day and then went home to have dinner with the kids and hang out with them for awhile before he came to the hospital. Brooklyn was so happy to see him & loved the pictures Braden and Kayla had colored for her. They really missed her being home with them. Mike stayed the night with Brookie so I could go home to see the other kids since I hadn't seen them since Sunday. I got home after they were in bed so I only got to see them for about an hour this morning before I went back to the hospital, but it was great. Kayla gave me about 100 hugs and said, "I haven't seen your smile until a long time." :) It is such a different experience being in the hospital this time. When we were there in January, it was kind of like time stopped for us. I wasn't aware of anything outside the hospital walls. It was all so shocking and scary and there were so many decisions we had to make so quickly, it was like an emotional whirlwind. I knew that our family and friends were taking care of the other kids, and they were able to come visit us at the hospital almost every day. We definitely had not planned to spend the first half of our week in the hospital this week, but it was a different feeling this time. We were definitely worried and concerned about Brooklyn being sick and wanting her to get better as soon as possible, but it wasn't as scary or emotional as it was in January. Once the doctors said that it was varicella and they felt that it was under control and they weren't worried about her, it was easier to relax. It is definitely not where I want to hang out on a regular basis, but I know some of the nurses now so that is nice and I know how to check out movies for us to watch and I know where the water machine was - simple things but things that help make our stay more bearable. It was also weird because I was so much more aware of what was happening in our regular life. My mom has been awesome and stayed at our house to watch the kids and take care of everything for us while we haven't been there, but there were still things on my mind to handle. Braden has a book report due this week and a poster due and I had to arrange for pick ups and drop offs for school and soccer. My mom has handled most of it, but we have had some really amazing friends helping us too. It is so nice to know how willing people are to help. After I took Kayla to school this morning I went back to the hospital so Mike could go into work. When I got there they were both pretty tired because Brooklyn kept waking up saying her legs hurt last night. I had missed the doctor coming in, but he told Mike that she was going to need to stay another day. I had figured that might happen, so I had packed extra clothes for us just in case. Our home nurse, Heidi, was working at the hospital today so we got to have her for our nurse, which was so nice. She talked to the doctor some more about how Brooklyn was doing and he ended up saying that we could go home this afternoon. We have the anti-viral medication to give her as well as tylenol and benadryl if she needs it. The rash is so much better today than it was yesterday, so we are hoping that it continues to improve and doesn't spread. Heidi is coming out tomorrow morning to check on Brooklyn and make sure that everything is getting better. I was so happy that we were going home! She seemed to be  feeling better & her fever was down, so she was much more active today and wasn't loving being cramped in a hospital room so she was pretty feisty. I could tell she was pretty tired too and she finally took a nap. When she woke up, Heidi unhooked her IV and I gave her a shower and we got outta there! In typical Frank fashion, we had an entire wagon-full of stuff to take down to the car with us when we left. :) Most of it was the pictures she painted and our snacks we accumulated over 3 days. She was so excited to get home to see her brother and sisters & it was so great to all sit down together for dinner tonight. We are hoping that Kelsey doesn't come down with chicken pox since she hasn't been able to get the vaccine and that Brooklyn heals quickly and is feeling better & ready for trick-or-treating Monday night! We also haven't talked to our main Oncologist about this little hospital stay yet, but Brooklyn has been off her chemo since we went in Sunday night, and will not start taking it again until she is done taking the medication for this virus, so we hope it doesn't set back her treatment plan too much. Thank you for all of your continued support and prayers for our family. :)