Home Sweet Home

We got home tonight and it feels so good! Once we get settled I'll post more about Kadyn's progress. Thank you and lots of love!

A New Day

Kadyn had a MUCH better day today! She even got out of bed, walked around, and ate a little bit. Her belly pain was a lot less than yesterday. So, as of now, we are still on track to go home tomorrow. Good thing because Gamma and Koy headed home today and I'm not sure Kadyn is going to believe "Koy is sleeping, but will be back soon" much longer.

I posted some pictures of the day. You'll see Kadyn had a surprise visitor that definitely put a smile on her face. This has been a very difficult hospital stay. It is never easy to see your child hurting or in pain. There are many bible verses and prayers that have played over and over in my head while watching Kadyn endure all she has this week. However, I keep coming back to the song Blessings by Laura Story. Here are some of the lyrics, I am sure you will see why it brings me so much comfort.

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise

We are so thankful for all of you and the support we receive daily. Thank you never feels like enough. We love you!

Relaxing

Koy doing anything just to be close to Kadyn

SANTA!

"I'm fweeee"

We've been waiting for that smile for awhile

So much work to catch up on!

Recovery

We had quite a night last night! Kadyn developed a fever of over 101 before bedtime. The nurses checked it hourly and it finally broke, with meds, around 3 am. Kadyn woke up in a relatively good mood, but as the meds wore off she began to change as well. She had a very rough day and has been on pain meds all day today. Because of the fever, level of pain and distention of abdomen they took her down for an x-ray. She is extremely full of gas, so they will definitely keep an eye on her. Tomorrow is a new day and we are praying for Kadyn's comfort as well as healing. We are definitely tired, but I have to say we would not be nearly as comfortable as we are without my mom. She is a true angel! She dropped everything in a second and was on the way with us. Staying nightly at a hotel with Koy, reading to Kadyn, entertaining both, sitting with me, you name it she does it and we could not do it without her. Thank you mom!!

Thank you friends and family for your continued love, support, and prayers!

We love you!

Tonight

Kadyn has been sleeping a lot since she got out of surgery. When she does wake up she is pretty uncomfortable. We are hoping her meds will help with that. I'm updating from my phone and it is not as easy to blog on as the computer. Hopefully, tomorrow I can post some pics. Thank you so much for all the prayers. Like we have said many times, God is so great! We love you all very much.

#4

Kadyn is done and all went well. Thank you God! I haven't see her yet. They said they are going to wake her up a bit before we can see her.

#3

She's in...

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Surgery Day update 2

They are still planning for surgery at 1:00

Surgery Day

As usually Kadyn is an anomaly...

They took Kadyn for an x-ray this morning to make sure her bowel was completely clear before sugery. Since she has been on Go-lytely and only clear liquids since Saturday afternoon you'd think she would be clear. Well, she isnt...
All of us are pretty confused. So, they have already given her a couple enemas and a suppository this morning. Her output is the opposite of clear, so we are waiting to find out what we do next.

Her surgery is scheduled for 1:00. We are hoping she is clear by then and we don't have to postpone. Kadyn is very hungry and just like her mama, an empty stomach makes her a bit grouchy! She just fell asleep and despite everything this morning she looks like a peaceful sleeping beauty. God is great!

I'll post when I know more. Thank you for all the calls, texts, etc. We feel your love and support and it is so appreciated!

Day of Waiting

Monday (I think)

Ever been locked in a small hospital room with a highly emotional, tired, and extremely hungry, but can't eat, two and a half year old...girl? I sincerely hope not and I absolutely do not recommend it :)

Today was our day of waiting. No meds, needles, or new tubes... just hanging out. Gamma and Kadyn did some crafts and made an adorable elephant puppet. We played princesses and watched Beauty and the Beast. Alison came for a visit and brought a super fun Dora pack and Kadyn was pleasantly surprised when 3 balloons with some of her favorite things arrived from the Browns. (THANK YOU!!)

Things only got better when daddy and Koy arrived. The kids played and fought just like they would at home. Ahhh the little things :) Ryan and I both teared up a bit when Koy wanted so badly to wake Kadyn from her nap. When she finally woke up he crawled in bed right next to her and said "Hi Kadyn!! Hey big grrrl! You wake up? You wanna play with me?" He loves her so much...

We talked to Kadyn's GI specialist this evening. Kadyn will have a cecostomy tomorrow. He is thinking that she will need to stay in the hospital until Friday to make sure everything is working correctly. Because this surgery may not be a solution to her problem I was very curious about the game plan from here on out. This is basically how he explained it....

Her bowel is not working properly and we need to figure out why. Right now, the only sure way to clean her out is thru an NG tube. This is a very traumatic and uncomfortable experience for her, so we are doing the cecostomy to make this process easier on her and improve her quality of life. While we are doing this we are also giving her bowel a chance to rest. It is extremely stretched out and he is afraid that the testing they need to do would be compromised because of the size of her bowel. So, instead of doing a diversion surgery to let her bowel rest this is a much easier procedure to accomplish the same thing. If we are lucky, the cecostomy is all we will need. She will keep the tube in and her bowel will heal itself. He said it could happen! If not, we will do motility testing to find out what part is not working, cut that part out, and sew the working parts back together. Obviously, we are praying for the miracle!

I cannot adequately express how much we appreciate your kind words, positive thoughts, and prayers. Kadyn is an incredible little girl. She fights for what she wants and wins. We know this battle will be no different.

Tonight, Koy, Gamma, and I are in the hotel while Ryan and Kadyn are at the hospital resting up for her big day. We pray for comfort and peace for Kadyn, wisdom and steady hands for the doctors working on her, patience and quick healing with manageable pain in the days to come.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you;my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Hospital update

Instead of having family members field calls, emails, and text I thought this would be an easier way to communicate Kadyn's progress. Everyone is so sweet to be concerned. The constant prayers and positive thoughts really keep us going. Kadyn is a true warrior and her love of life is inspiring.

Kadyn has been having stomach problems for most the year. She is on heavy doses of laxatives and stool softeners, but continues to fill up with stool. She has been admitted 3 times since May for clean outs. During a clean out she has an NG tube placed and Go-Lytely is administered until she "goes" clear. The time between clean outs has become shorter and shorter. So, Kadyn was admitted to Children's Mercy in KC yesterday for another clean out (just 3 weeks after her last). However, this time she will have a clean out then a procedure called a cecostomy - "A catheter (a thin tube) placed into the cecum, the first part of the large bowel (in the lower right abdomen). The cecostomy tube is used to administer an enema to quickly and completely evacuate the large intestines." This will allow us to do clean outs from home. No more NG tubes! YAY!!! The surgery itself is pretty simple, but she will be under full sedation.

Day 1 Admitted Saturday

Bit of a rough day. The NG sparked some major anxiety and it took her a bit to recover from that. Thank goodness, for the princess pack from grandma and her new baby (with doc kit) from her buddy Henry keeping her distracted. The clean out went really well. Kadyn was incredible and used the potty the entire time, even waking in the night to go. She was clear and able to stop meds by 4 am.

Day 2 - Sunday

Today, we saw the doctors and they told us they are going to keep the NG tube in until surgery Tuesday. This way we can make sure she stays clear and we are able to hydrate her through it if needed before her IV. She is not happy about being on a liquid diet and told me she really wanted a hamburger this morning. Kadyn is very tired, but in good spirits. As you can see by the pictures below she has had a VERY busy day so far! Koy and daddy cannot get here fast enough for Kadyn. Luckily, they will both be here tomorrow. Koy has been going on lots of adventures with daddy and having a blast, but things just aren't the same without his sidekick.