Down but Not Out

On Saturday, October 12th we had our annual trip to Tweite's Pumpkin Patch (post to follow), that night Michael started crying in pain saying his eyes hurt.  It caused us concern because Michael hardly ever complains.  We looked at his eyes and they weren't red, watery, burning, or itching.  Michael just said they hurt.  Thinking he was tired or had a headache, we put him to bed.  The next day was Stake Conference, Michael woke up with a little bit of eye pain, but still felt up to going to church.  That afternoon after a long nap, he was crying again with pain.  But the next day, Monday, he was fine and went to school, so we didn't think about it again.

 

Monday, October 21st, I sat down to read with Michael and when it was his turn to read he had to lean in close to the book to see the words and he was still getting letters wrong.  Thinking that it was his turn to go to the eye doctor and get glasses, I called and made an appointment.  Wednesday, October 23rd, there was no school (why a Wednesday you ask?  Good questions!).  I was playing "Sorry" with Michael and he had to lean in really close to the game board to move his pieces.  He then said that he couldn't see my pieces (which were yellow) because they were too bright.  I asked to see his eyes - his pupils were huge, just like they would be after being dilated.  Sirens were going off in my head.  I had Nathan check his eyes and he immediately called his friend, Mike, from med school that is now an ophthalmologist.  Mike said that Michael needed to be seen, so Nathan called the ophthalmologist on call and she agreed.  The next day we went in to the Clinic.  We then proceeded to have an extremely long visit and a gut wrenching one at that.  Michael could hardly see anything with his left eye.  He could count fingers if they were 6 inches or closer, he could not see any letters or light projected on the wall or see color.  His right eye was 20/200, which is better but not much.  He could see a limited amount of color with his right.  I was trying not to panic.  My baby was basically blind in his left eye!  The ophthalmologist said that he could see quite a bit of swelling of the optic nerves, but would need an MRI to see more.  He also  wanted to schedule an MRI to see if we could find the cause of the eye pressure causing Michael's pupils to swell.

 

So my sweet Michael had an MRI scan of his brain on Friday, October 25th.  Because the scan was an hour long they had to put Michael "under".  The night before, Nathan and I had the worst night of our lives.  We hardly slept and were trying to remain as calm as we could for Michael's sake.  We discussed the worst case scenarios, which were: cancer, brain tumor, or some condition that would cause blindness.  Our friend, Jacob Ekins, is a Neuroradiology Fellow.  Nathan had asked him if he'd be around.  Jacob said that he would not be able to participate in Michael's MRI, but would be close by.  He came in and saw Michael before the MRI and after the MRI he was able to read the scan.  I will always hold Jacob in the highest esteem for the kindness he showed me and my sweet boy.  Jacob found me in the waiting room and reported that Michael's MRI was clean except for the swelling of the optic nerves.  "So it's not cancer?"  "It's not cancer."  Cue the huge tears of relief!  I appreciate that Jacob came and told me the news shortly after reading the scan, so I didn't have to wait anxiously to hear the results.  Jacob also got permission for Nathan to read the scan right away, which he appreciated.

 

It may be strange to say we were relieved because Michael still was not out of the woods, but we felt that if he didn't need chemo or brain surgery we could handle anything!  The preliminary diagnosis was optic neuritis which is a swelling of the optic nerves.  It can be caused by a virus or is a symptom of an autoimmune disease.  It will often present as Michael's did: eye pain and then oversized pupils with limited sight a week or so later.  Michael was admitted to the hospital Friday night to begin high doses of steroids.  The steroids were to help the swelling go down.  He also needed to have a spinal tap and have blood work done.  Michael was in the hospital until Sunday night.  They wanted to monitor him while taking the steroids.  The neurologist was hoping to see more results, so instead of taking the original 3 doses, he wanted Michael to have 5 doses.  Nathan worked his "magic" and made it possible for Michael to have his last two doses in the outpatient infusion center.

 

 Michael enjoyed playing the iPad in little bits.  He had to hold it so close to see and it made him tired to do that for extended time periods.

Last dose of steroids!  He finally got his IV port taken out and his arm was his again!

 

Throughout this whole experience Michael was his usual calm and happy self.  He never complained about not being able to see, so the symptoms could have showed up before I noticed them because he never said anything about it.  All the doctors and nurses in the hospital kept telling me what a sweet boy Michael was.  One of the reasons this experience was so hard to handle was because it happened to one of the sweetest little boys ever.  Nathan kept saying that he just wanted his happy Michael back.

This past Monday, the 28th, Michael had his eyes checked again.  They were a tiny bit better, but we couldn't help but leave a little discouraged.  On Halloween, Michael went in again, his right eye was 20/50!  He just kept reading the lines of letters, meanwhile, Nathan and I are teary eyed with huge relief, cheering, "Go, Michael, Go!"  His left eye was 20/150 which was better than the right eye was before the steroids!  We have been trying to be patient with the return of his sight, so this result is a success!  Nathan looked up some research done on kids with optic neuritis.  There are not a lot of studies out there because this condition is not very often seen in children.  According to the studies he read, it took some kids up to a year to regain their sight and it was not back to their original sight meaning most still had to wear glasses (but we know that Michael would probably wear glasses anyway).  The test results on his blood and spinal fluid have all come back negative for autoimmune diseases, but we will know more after the cultures come back.  We meet with the neurologist on Monday.

 

This was an extremely scary situation for our family and one of the scariest moments as parents for Nathan and I.  This burden would have been impossible to bear if it hadn't been for loving friends and family.  We had our families fasting and praying for us,  Michael's name was put on the prayer roll at many temples, friends were fasting and praying with us, friends brought us dinner, took our kids, visited Michael in the hospital and sent concerned texts.  I kept telling Nathan that I felt unworthy of all this attention, but it made this burden a little lighter.  The Primary made Michael huge banners that they all signed and friends brought balloons.  Jacob's kids brought an iPod for Michael to borrow and listen to a "Star Wars" radio show.  A huge thank you for our good friends: the Fletchers, the Jacobsons, and the Dangerfields.  The Fletchers took Haley and Alina overnight, the Jacobsons took Nate and Andy overnight, and the Dangerfields took Nate, Haley, and Andy to church and kept them for most of Sunday.  This all allowed me to be at the hospital when Michael had his spinal tap and to be there on Saturday and Sunday without worrying about my kids. The Fletchers also cared for Alina on the day of the MRI, which allowed me to be with Michael.   It means a lot to me to have friends who love my children and will take care of them.  Most of all I am grateful for my sweet husband who allowed me to see his emotions as we went through this.  I appreciate that he didn't try to be the "strong" one and that he grieved openly with me.  He stayed both nights in the hospital with Michael and was there for him when I couldn't be.  I am so grateful he is my eternal companion and I know with him, I can face any challenge head on.

 

We look forward to the day when our sweet boy can see completely again.  We are grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who allowed Michael to be a part of our family and who has shown His love for Michael through the many blessings we have received throughout this whole experience.  He is aware of each of us and loves us, of this I testify.

Progress

Last Monday the Fletcher's invited us over for dinner and we found a lot of action going on at our lot.  They were pouring the footings for our foundation!  We were really excited!  Emily and Adrienne said that their kids had enjoyed watching all the fun.

 

 I think the coolest thing was this truck.  Because they can't get a cement truck into the pit, they use this truck that has a long arm with a tube attached to it.  They pump the cement into the pit through the tube.  It probably seems obvious that they would need to do something like that, but I thought it was clever and way cool!

 So, they poured the footings on Monday and this is what it looked like by Thursday!  Emily called me and said, "They are just cruising on your house!"

Another cool truck!  You can see Emily's house in the background.  I never thought that I'd have so many pictures of inanimate objects on our blog, but I am loving this progress on our new home!

FINALLY!!

As soon as Nathan was hired by Mayo we decided that we wanted to build a new home.  He was hired in 2010, then we went to San Francisco for 2011-2012.  While in San Francisco we bought the lot between two families in our ward, the Dangerfields and the Fletchers.  Our lot is in Oronoco which is about 10 minutes north of Rochester proper.  As soon as we got back to Rochester from San Francisco in July 2012, we started the process of building our home.  We contacted a builder and had our brother-in-law, Tyler Kirk, draw up the plans for our dream home.  Tyler did such an awesome job and we were so happy with the results of his hard work.  Our builder was excited to work on such a beautiful home.  All that was needed was money (isn't that what it usually boils down to?).  Nathan did his research and found a bank.  We needed to have so much in our bank account to be approved, so we started saving.  We finally were able to turn in our plans to the bank to start the process of getting a loan.  We heard at the beginning of May that the plans that Tyler had worked so hard on were too much for our lot and that the plans could not be appraised.  We started downsizing and the appraiser told us that we would need to start over with our plans or buy a bigger lot.  We were very discouraged and were even looking at homes already built to buy.  But, we both felt strongly that we were supposed to live on that lot.  We asked the kids, "would you rather have the house of our dreams or would you like to live on our lot?"  Unanimously they said that they wanted to live on the lot.  So we went online and found a plan that we liked.  We had Denny, our builder, and his architect make the changes that we wanted to the plans.  We finalized the plans and got them into the bank about mid-July.  Then we had to wait again for the bank.  We finally heard that these plans were able to be appraised and then we heard that they underwriters ordered another appraisal.  We kept running into these road blocks and were afraid that we would run out of time and have to wait another year before the house could be built because of the approaching Minnesota winter.  Everything finally went through at the bank and we finally closed on the loan on September 13 and we were finally able to break ground on September 19!!  I had texts and phone calls from both Emily Fletcher and Adrienne Dangerfield telling us about the "show" that was going on between their lots and how excited they all were that it was finally happening!  We will post more as things progress!

Fall Festival

Every year in September, Quarry Hill Nature Center has their Fall Festival.  We look forward to it every year.  We buy tickets and the kids can use the tickets to do crafts, play games, and buy food.  It's a lot of fun!  We had a lot of fun again this year, but we had one unfortunate thing happen.  At the end of the festival, we decided to buy sodas and cookies with our tickets.  The bees were everywhere and were LOVING the soda.  Michael was trying to swipe them away from his cup and got stung on his forearm.  They gave us a bag of ice and it helped ease his pain.  Poor little guy!

 Alina and the boys all decided to paint a ceramic frog.  They turned out really cool.  The most awesome thing about it was that the paint dried really quick!

 Haley and Alina were wearing matching shirts, so we had to get a picture of them together.

 

One of the favorite things to do is to decorate sugar cookies.

2nd Annual Taggart Penny Carnival

Last year on the Saturday after the first week of school we had a penny carnival.  Haley had been asking me all summer if she could have one and we were finally able to have it that Saturday.  It was so fun and successful that we decided to do it again.  So the Saturday after the first week of school we had our 2nd Annual Taggart Penny Carnival.  I recruited Nate, Haley, Andy, and the Towe girls (Autumn and Hayley) to work the booths.  It was a lot of fun again and we've decided to have it every year!

 

 Hayley Towe was in charge of the Treat Table.  It was so hot that the Rice Krispie treats melted into giant mounds.  I don't think we will do those next year!

 

 Haley did balloon animals and hats again.  Next year we will get the nice expensive balloons because they kept popping and she had a hard time sculpting her creations.

 

 Nate was working the fishing booth and Andy (below) was working the Penny Toss booth.

 My sweet babies!  I just had to throw these in as well.

 Nathan helped by running the Shooting Range booth.  It was the most popular and he was really great with all the kids!

 

 Marilyn brought these walkie talkies back from China.  They have earbuds and microphones on the ear bud cords.  The boys were wearing them and I thought they looked like the secret service.  They were wearing them so that they could talk to each other during the carnival.

 Alina got the idea to stand behind the glass of our shooting range.  Nathan was giving the kids extra points if they hit her nose or got it in her mouth.  Haley joined her.

The First Day

The kids started school on September 3rd.  Once again it was kind of chilly in the morning, but it warmed up.  Nathan took the day off - which was such a treat!  Nate and Haley rode bikes to school.  Nathan, Alina, and I walked Michael and Andy to school.

 

 Nate started 8th grade.

 

 Haley started 6th grade.  Our 6th grade is in middle school, so she has 7 classes a day and has to remember 2 locker combos (P.E. and regular locker).  So far, so good for her this year.

 

 Andy started third grade and has Mrs. Murdoff as his teacher.

 

 Michael started 1st grade and has Mrs. Mertesdorf as his teacher.  He's at school all day.  It's been an exhausting change for him, but he's getting into the groove of it.

 

 Alina had to have a first day of school picture too!  Here she is with her Dora "backpack, backpack".

 

 Andy waiting in line.

 

 Michael waiting in line.

 

I had to include this picture!  Nathan's parents arrived for a short visit on the first day of school, so we went out to eat to celebrate their arrival and the kids surviving the first day.  Marilyn had brought some cute hair stuff for Alina from China.  She thought it was funny to put it in her hair herself.  The colorful beaded necklace also came from China.  The Dora and Boots necklaces and bracelets, Alina already owned.  As Marilyn kept saying, "It's all in how you accessorize!"

The Dells

We decided to have one last summer trip and went to the Wisconsin Dells 4 days. We had so much fun!  The first day we were there it was kind of rainy, so we decided to go on a shopping spree to spend all of the kids hard earned money.  We went to an outlet mall there in the Dells.  Andy decided to buy a Build-a-Bear. 

 Pump up the filling. Haley was there to lend support and expertise since she's done this before.

 Make a wish.

 Air bath (Andy thought this was the best part)!

 Alina showing off her new Crocs.  They change color in the sun!

 Nate didn't want to spend all his money in one place, so he got a "SmallFrys" which is a smaller version of the Build-a-Bear.  He named his frog "Rook".

 Meet Vortex.  He's stylishly dressed in his Iron Man costume.

 Last time we visited the Dells we only stayed in and around our hotel.  This time we ventured out and discovered downtown.  We met this nice man.

 There was a restaurant called "Macs" that served crazy variations of macaroni and cheese.  Part of their motto is "Be Cheesy".  Haley loves cheese and so we had to stop for a photo shoot.  Look at that cute little mimic!

 

Noah's Ark

The second day of our vacation, we went to "Noah's Ark" which is well known in the Dells as being the biggest water park.  Nathan had made an impulse purchase (his words) and bought a waterproof digital camera before we left. It turned out to be a wonderful buy!  We took it to Noah's Ark hoping to take lots of pictures but the battery was low when we got there (some confusion with the charging?  we still are not sure).  So we only got a few pictures.

 

 

 This was the first ride the kids and Nathan went on.  It's called "Flash Flood" and it's a log fume ride (Nate said it was kind of like Splash Mountain). We got there first thing and this ride was the farthest from the entrance, so there was no line.  They were able to go 3 times right in a row without getting off.  Nathan said it was awesome not having to worry about the camera getting wet!

 This was Alina's favorite "ride". She did not feel very good and was not too anxious to get in the water.  We did get her to go on a few slides.  Her other favorite was the wave pool.  It was my favorite too!  A couple of times it almost rocked Alina to sleep.

 

 After swimming all day at Noah's Ark we decided to try "Macs" out.  So the base for all of their dishes is yummy, creamy, and definitely cheesy macaroni and cheese.  Then you can decide what you'd like in it or on it.  The boys all had "Cheeseburger Mac" which had an actual cheeseburger (minus the bun) on top of it.  Haley had "Mama's Mac" that had a fried hot dog on top.  Nathan enjoyed "Memphis Mac" which had bbq sauce and other things I cannot recall.  I had "Taco Mac" which had pico de gallo, tortilla chips, sour cream, beef and guacamole on top.  Alina had the original.

 Each macaroni was served in the dish it was cooked in.

 

Sorry about the "already chewed food"!

 

Chula Vista

The first time we visited the Dells we stayed at the Kalahari, which was awesome!  This time we stayed at Chula Vista.  It wasn't the Kalahari, but it was great all the same!  This time the waterproof camera worked, so we got some great shots above and under the water!

 Michael surprised me and went on every water slide in the indoor water park, even the ones that I would never go on.

Wizard's Quest

This fun place was recommended to us by a friend and got great reviews, so we decided to try it.  We didn't get any pictures but this one.  It was a place where you are trying to save 4 wizards and to be able to do that you earn "glimmers" by answering questions and finding clues.  They had 4 realms: water, earth, fire, air and the realms were decorated and set up really neat.  It was fun to work together as a family to save the wizards - even Nathan got into it!