Our Olympic Experience

I love the Olympics!  I mean really love the Olympics.  I grew up intently watching the ice skating, forming my own dreams of ice skating greatness.  They were quickly subdued the first time I went ice skating and could barely get around the rink.  But, it wasn't utill I was 21 that I really caught Olympic fever.  We were living in Salt Lake while Chad finished school and I was working for the Rotary Club of Salt Lake.  The 2002 winter games were held there that winter.  Since Salt Lake relied largely on volunteers for their task-force, the Rotary club served a big role.  I basically got as close to the games as I could without being an actual competitor. 

First of all, I worked right on Main Street in Downtown.  So, everyday during my lunch break and after work, I'd brush elbows with people from around the world.  I even did a little pin trading and proudly wore a USA Roots cap.  Through my job, I was involved with ticket sales, some paralympic venues and the Olympic torch relay.  I got to attend several events including a hockey game, the speed skating time trials where I chatted it up with Apollo Ohno (before he was famous of course), and a Medals Ceremony where In Sinc preformed (you know Chad loved that).  But my favorite was probably meeting some of the American Medal winners during a Rotary Luncheon.  I was part of organizing the event and greeted the Olympians as they arrived.  Such a friendly group of people.  One athelete even asked me if I wanted to hold her gold medal.  Of course I did!  It was heavy and beautiful.  The designer/creator of those medals was a member of the Rotary Club of course.  I sincerely doubt I'll ever get that close to the Olympics again, but I anxiously wait the arrival of the games for months and watch as much as I can.

More on that later, but first, I need to back this long-winded post up.

Right before the Olympics started, Carter celebrated his seventh!  Very, very exciting for a seven year old.  He had cupcakes at school.

Got to choose dinner that night (Easton's was a fan too)

and of course, there were presents. 

The Gorrila box has nothing to do with Carter's birthday but I wanted to show it because who can resist an valentine box when it's a Gorrilla picking his nose (Carter's original design)

the next day we drove to Dallas for more birthday celebrating. But, it sure didn't feel like Dallas because everything was covered in snow.  We arrived at my parents in time to see the Opening ceremonies before heading to bed.  Then we spent the next morning in the snowy yard.  This was how it looked a full day after the snow fell.  That meant a lot to me because my experience has always been that Texas snow doesn't last past 10:00 am. 

Yes, they're wearing socks covered in plastic bags on their hands.  What can I say, it doesn't snow much here. 

Next on our list was a birthday bash with his buddies at his favorite restaurant Fuddruckers.  It was seriously the perfect venue for a seven year old boy.  They had a private party room and our table was all set up before we arrived.  The kids got to order kids meals and create their own burgers and fry sauce.  Any one with little boys knows how important their stomachs are to them.  Then on to some video games in the arcade.  The kids were in heaven, I didn't have to do anything but make a reservation, I never worried that the kids were being too loud, and I didn't have to clean up.  Awesome!!!  I'm still kicking myself however, because I was so busy making sure the right milk shake went to the right kid, that I forgot to take any pictures.  I'm especially sad because we don't live there anymore and I really wanted pictures of his friends that we miss sooooo much.

Unfortunately, during the party, Liam wasn't feeling very well and my parents took him home early.  Within a few hours it was decided that he needed to go to the urgent care but it was a couple more hours before they had an opening to see him.  By that point, he was a really sick little guy. 

Chad and I had made plans with some friends to get together that night.  So, it was decided that Chad would take him to the Dr. while I went and represented and the party.  As I was leaving, I started worrying a whole lot more because I noticed that Liam wouldn't move his neck.  Immediately I thought of menejitus.  Chad was still convinced, however that he just had strep or the flu and told me to go.  So I went and got to enjoy this for a few minutes.I know it's a really poor picure, but it touched me cause just look at all those sweet poeple who came to dinner just because they heard we'd be in town. (and maybe they heard the food was good).  I'd only been there a short time however, when I got a phone call from a panicked Chad.  The doctor at the Urgent Care center confirmed that Liam had all the symptoms of menejitus and needed to get to the hospital asap.  They were talking about calling an ambulance and Chad realised how scarry this really was so he told me I needed to get there as soon as possible.  Thus, I said some hurried goodbyes, left cash to pay for a meal that I never saw and rushed to be with my little boy.  I still regret not getting to spend more time with our amazing friends but hope we can repeat somday minus all the drama.

Thus began our family's Olympic sized trial.  Over the next 24 hours I learned a lot about menenjitus.  The only way to actually diagnos it is through a spinal tap that is sent away to be cultured.  So, if your child has menenjitus symptoms, (headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, vomiting, extreme lethargy, high temperature) skip the pediatrician and head straight to the ER.  By the time we got to the Children's Medical Center, Liam was barely conscious and had all the symptoms I just listed.  However, the spinal tap prooved benign and thus a CAT scan was ordered.  Turns out, he had an extreme case of strep that quickly spread to his ears, tonsils and the soft tissues of his neck.  Basically he was inflamed from the ears to the collar bone.  We were at the Children's hospital till being released on Tuesday with high hopes of his recovery. 

That night we drove home so Chad could get back to work and Carter could get back to school.  But, Wednesday morning.  My nightmare returned.  Liam was again haveing a bad headache, high fever, and vomiting.  I didn't know what to do so I called the pediatrician who saw him immediately.  He took a quick look at him and said we needed to go to the ER (like I said, might as well skip the pediatrician).  Again we were in the hospital, again we were doing CAT scans, but this time, I didn't have any family and friends around to support us.  We just moved here and haven't made a lot of connections yet.  Chad left work early to pick Carter up from school and to relieve me of Easton who never got a nap and is not a fan of emergency rooms.  The CAT scan showed that Liam had formed an abcess from the infection.  Something we had been warned about but had hoped we had bypassed.  Normally, a ENT will surgically drain such and abcess but Liam's was deep above his palate making surgery a last resort only.  So, we spent the next week in the hospital again. Liam was constantly pumped with heavy antibiotics and steroids.  Finally, on Tuesday we got to go home, and this time it looks like it's permenant. 

The silver lining to this whole experience.  I got to watch A LOT of the olympic games in those hospitals.

I am so, so grateful to my sister Bekah who flew to San Antonio at a moment's notice to help our family out.  Chad did not have any vacation time to take because he just started the job and a four year old little boy cannot be left at a hospital alone.  The nurses will administer fluids and medicine but, they do not cut and feed him food from a tray he cannot reach, help him drag the IV to the bathroom every half hour, make sure he washes his hands, play candy land with him 50 times or more, reinact the Cars movie on his bed with toy figures, find him a show to watch, read him books, play with play doh, make sure he doesn't fall out of the aforementioned bed when he gets excited with his airplane, paint and color, race him up and down the hall in a wagon, call the nurse when he messes up his i.v., again and again, buy him pizza after three days of him craving it because of CiCi's commercials on Nick Jr. etc., etc., etc.    

But, Bekah was there to take care of things at home.  Chad even said after she left that she was his hero.  She was so nice, cleaned, filled our fridge, taught me how to remove the puke smell from my car, and took care of Carter and Easton.  My parents were also a HUGE help.  They paid for Bekah's last minute flight from Denver (I don't want to see the receipt on that one because I fear the guilt I'd feel), and then when she had to leave and Liam wasn't home yet, they drove down for a couple of days.  My mom made sure to fill any space in the fridge and pantry that Bekah left empty.  It was so good to feel the love and support from our family, but makes me wish we could move closer.

In the middle of this, I was reading some papers my gradfather wrote for me and was reminded that my great grandfather died at the age of 35 leaving behind a pregnant wife and two other children.  He died of strep just three days after showing any signs of being sick.  It used to be unfathomable to me that a healthy man could be killed that quickly by strep.  After seeing Liam that first night in the ER room, it became very believable.  I'm sooooooo grateful for antibiotics and steriods and CAT scans!!!!  I'm sooooooo grateful that Liam does not have a death certificate that says the same thing as his great, great grandfather's.  We've had many answered prayers and are looking forward to getting back to normalcy.