Updates....

The hospital that we love....
The Doctor we adore!
getting a ticket out of here!
Thanks Ronald McDonald House!!!

crashed at Ted and Danielle's....trying to recover!

Ok.... After blogging several times a day I feel like I am behind! Here is what has happened:

left the hospital last night and took Maddie out for a fun dinner at Max & Ermas. She had a good time but has really no appetite. Maybe ate a quarter of a grilled cheese.... hopefully that will get better as she starts to feel more like herself. Got back to the RMH and let her play in the garden and play yard. It is absolutely beautiful. On of the local landscapers in Cincinnati takes care of it for the house. probably one of the most relaxing play yards i have even been in! What a great break for all of us!

Went to bed at 9! We were all exhausted! Took about a minute before I heard 2 others snoring!! Had a HUGE storm come through and the power went off for 4 hours! I was restless but thankful that Maddie and Jed both slept well.

Got up early this morning so that we could be at the hospital at 7 to get Madison's x-ray before the appointment with Levitt. Had a really good meeting with Dr. Levitt. What an amazing man! He gave us the run down on what is ahead. Said that her xray looked really good. We were kinda surprised as she does not seem to be going as much as we had expected.....suppose that it could just be that she is not eating a ton. Dr. Levitt said that he would like to see her taking no more than half a square of the ex-lax by the end of the month. We were thrilled to hear that. Talked at length about the C Diff. He said that the common denominator in the patients that get it is a slow moving colon.... obviously Mads fits in that category. It is still contagious so we will need to take allot of precautions so that it does not get passed around. they gave us some good tips, so we will take all of those very seriously. We have been instructed that if she begins vomiting or has a fever over 100.5 that she needs to go right to the hospital. We have been informed just how serious this infection is and that the consequences of not keeping it under control can be very extreme. In cases that it can not be controlled, the infected colon is removed. PLEASE pray that these anti-biotic work!!

We arrived at Danielle and Teds this afternoon about 3. We surprised Olivia! She was sooooo excited! Madison has been sleeping for about an hour and will hopefully get caught up a little. She feels warm so we are keeping close tabs on her temp. she is holding right at 99 but is sweating like a pickle..... not sure what that is all about. I am sure that i am a little jumpy after being given all of the risks.

Madison and I will be back in 3 weeks for an exam with Dr. Levitt. That will hopefully be the end of the road for her. Dr. Levitt was so sweet today and said that he was sad that our journey with him was coming to an end. We have really bonded. I am sure that he can see the gratitude that we feel for him and how he has changed our lives. I wish that we could pack him up and bring him with us. I gave him a big hug and thanked him again as we were leaving.... I was looking for the word to express my appreciation for what he has done for us. What do you say to a man that has changed the quality of your child's life forever???? I felt the tears coming so I did not say much....

We plan on crashing her tonight and tomorrow just to make sure that everything is ok with Mads before heading home on Thursday.

Please continue to pray for Madison's full recovery. Her biggest pain right now is related to and awful rash/burn on her bottom from the anti-biotic. We just picked up her prescription for that...hopefully she will get some quick relief.

thank you all for the support these last few weeks..... It has been such a blessing! We will continue to update the blog as we settle back into life at home and get Madison back to full swing!

Nikki